on hidden stories

So I'm still out sick with the flu virus. Even with getting my flu shot, it didn't stop me from getting whatever my coworkers had. My boss told me and another coworker to stay home this week -- and that's what I'm doing. I sure hope I get better soon...at least before I run out of food! At least the sun has come out (I started this post earlier on Tuesday, and it's taken me until Thursday evening to actually finish it...that's how tired and sick I've been).

Fortunately, there's been plenty of baseball to watch and that's really been helpful in keeping me from going crazy from having to watch very bad daytime talk shows. And I've managed to not overdose on the coverage of the Virginia Tech massacre. My brother has posted his thoughts about what's going on and I have to say I agree that one of the many disturbing things about what has happened is the frequent media mention of the fact that the killer was a Korean immigrant. The kid practically grew up here - what is the relevance? Just another chance to stereotype. To me, what's more relevant is the fact that no one was able to adequately help this young man with his mental health issues...and don't even get me started on the gun control laws!

But enough on that for the moment, and I can't think of a great segue but this is what I intended to actually talk about, and that's about how every family has eccentrics and hidden stories. Families are fascinating, some even more so than others, and even after you've kind of compartmentalized or identified certain people of always being a certain way, something happens to alter your perception
So the latest interesting thing is that my dad went down to east Texas to visit my grandma this past weekend. And he learned that apparently he has a cousin that no one knew about. One of my grandma's nephews, over 40 years ago, had an affair with a married woman (she was separated from her husband) and she had a boy as a result. Scandalous! But she got back together with her husband and raised the son and didn't ask for support. This son recently found out who his biological dad was and decided that he wanted to meet up with my relative. Apparently it was a nice reunion, held in OKC at the home of another relative. My dad saw the photos of the reunion of the guy, his kids, etc. It's interesting how that can change your perception of someone -- I don't think any less of my relative, but I'll admit it makes him seem a little more intriguing. I won't ever know the full story - but I'm glad it's turned out well.