BlunderWoman
Senior Member
I had an uncle let's call him 'Mike'. Mike had a very long military career. He climbed way up the ladder to the top. Mike had 2 children. One boy who died in a car wreck and one girl who died this last year about 3 months ago. My father and his sister are the only living siblings left that Mike had. A box that had belonged to Mike and was in possession of his daughter when she died was sent to my father. All of the siblings in my fathers family were very very close. My father really felt like he knew Mike like the back of his hand. While going through the box my dad discovered it was full of secrets no one knew that uncle Mike took to the grave with him. The box had gobs of military medals for heroism no one had ever heard about. Stranger though, the box told us something about his brother's identity my father never had a clue about. NO ONE DID. Something to do with his profession that not a soul knew about.
Years ago I had told my sister " I just can't feel close to uncle Mike. He's aloof, but he's constantly sizing me up an appraising me with his eyes & I can tell I do not measure up. It's like he never stops taking inventory." My sister said " I have no idea what you're talking about. He's just a nice guy. I get along with him." After examining the contents of the box in my fathers room my sister remembered what I had said & told me " Oh...maybe you were right."
I don't know if I even can or should say what he did, so I'm not going to. He surely took it to his grave with him.
I will say this .. it's very common for people to hear a couple of things about a person or hear a couple of comments made by a person and think they know exactly what and who a person is. I think if we knew all the secrets people take to the grave with them we would all feel a little less inclined to think we can know exactly what someone is all about so quickly in our day to day lives.
It did get me wondering how many other people found boxes of loved ones that revealed secrets never known before.
Years ago I had told my sister " I just can't feel close to uncle Mike. He's aloof, but he's constantly sizing me up an appraising me with his eyes & I can tell I do not measure up. It's like he never stops taking inventory." My sister said " I have no idea what you're talking about. He's just a nice guy. I get along with him." After examining the contents of the box in my fathers room my sister remembered what I had said & told me " Oh...maybe you were right."
I don't know if I even can or should say what he did, so I'm not going to. He surely took it to his grave with him.
I will say this .. it's very common for people to hear a couple of things about a person or hear a couple of comments made by a person and think they know exactly what and who a person is. I think if we knew all the secrets people take to the grave with them we would all feel a little less inclined to think we can know exactly what someone is all about so quickly in our day to day lives.
It did get me wondering how many other people found boxes of loved ones that revealed secrets never known before.