An Addendum to a FAMILY SECRET

Tonight is my biological sister’s 70th birthday who, on the day she was born, was abandoned by our mother and left at a London hospital, never to be taken home with this despicable and self centered parent. Susan never had a cuddly teddy or a home in which to be loved until she was placed in a foster home sometime later. Susan, as she was called, lived in England where birth files and parent information are open for review, unlike in the United States which seals such information. Susan was able to locate this heartless mother and met with her face to face and learned of her American father and the fact that she had a biological sister who was eighteen months older and as a baby was entrusted to her paternal grandparents to raise in America.

There is so much more to this tragic story and is depicted in the novel, FAMILY SECRETS: A JOURNEY OF GOOD AND EVIL written by Dr. Fran White, Susan’s sister. As noted in this novel, a portion of the title , “FAMILY SECRETS” is never completely disclosed. This family secret revolves around the true racial identity of these sisters and how their very young parents, characters effected by World War II and the London bombing and the quest to latch onto life before they might lose their lives and their future. Questions of racial identity and the cruel racist behaviors that Susan’s mother was met with as a war bride coming home with her American husband, did significantly effect the marriage of this young couple.

Susan and her sister did meet for the first time during her well endowed sister’s college years. As written in the pages of FAMILY SECRETS, this meeting resulted in a less than endearing connection between the sisters. Susan’s sibling was on an unsuccessful mission to search for the answers to her racial identity before her impending marriage and future motherhood. The sisters do reunite once later when Susan visits America and an initial meeting with her paternal grandparents which was traumatic and did not end well.

FAMILY SECRETS does have a final ending to this fictional/autobiography story but the real life addendum to this story continues forty years later when the sisters meet once again. Susan searches for her sister and ultimately locates her in order to reveal that their mother just recently died. Susan was anxious to reunite with her long, lost sister after years of growth and maturity. They spent two wonderful weeks together in America with Susan meeting her half sister and brother facilitated by her sister. Unlike their last meeting, they parted amicably and with much love. However, weeks before Susan’s sister was to visit Susan and her family in London, she, without any rational explanation, abandoned her sister, a replication of the actions of their parents and never communicated again with this heartbroken sibling.

Susan did resume her relationship and visits to America to vacation with her half siblings but never made contact with this traumatized sibling. I am Susan’s sister and I have made numerous attempts to contact this sister and to quiz her half siblings, living in this country, to find out why Susan choose to abandon this family member just as their parents did over seventy years ago. The answer to this family secret has yet to be revealed even by the half siblings who I have since ended any contact or relationship with them due to their betrayal and refusal to help two sisters, who were separated for over forty years and reunited again. They continue to welcome Susan into their lives when she comes to America.

Happy 70th Birthday, Susan ,and may all of our Family Secrets be revealed when we reach our final “Journey of Good and Evil”.

FAMILY SECRETS is, indeed, an intriguing novel, filled with romance, love, family devotion, challenges and enjoyed by many readers. This book can be reviewed and purchased through Amazon.Com

Please do let me know “whatsyourfeeling” and share your review of this family drama and secrets.