I had to tell my mom her cousin died. She and this cousin were very, very close as kids but drifted a bit as they got older — but they still talked several times a week. My Aunt called me while my mom was at work and told me J had died of a heart attack, and asked me to tell my mom because she didn’t want to call her at work and upset her.

My mom worked afternoons so she got home around 11pm. I told her around 1am... because I had fucking forgot. I had forgotten her favorite cousin had died. (I can’t even say I was young or stoned — this was like four years ago and I was totally sober.) She took it pretty hard, but after the initial crying phase she found it hilarious I had forgotten something like that. (We joke in my family about our shitty memories, because it does run in the family, but that’s still a big thing to forget!)