From the time she was 13 or 14, Carol knew she had been adopted. She learned about it one day from her best friend, Joanie. Carol had been complaining about how strict her mother was. Joanie said, "They don't want you to turn out like your mother."

Carol says: "I started crying because I thought my mother was the nicest person in the world. But Joanie had been talking about my birth mother. She didn't realize I didn't know."

Carol went home and asked her mother, who told her it was true. "I was really confused that what I had thought about the world just wasn't so. But I never had a problem about my birth mother giving me up. Even at that age I realized how difficult that must have been."

Carol's mother told her that her birth father was in the Army when she was born, and her birth mother had other children at home. When she got pregnant with Carol, he made her give up the infant.

Carol's father never discussed the adoption with her. In fact, he ignored the fact that she knew.

Carol says: "As I grew up, I had a natural curiosity as to who my birth parents might be, but I had no idea how to go about finding them. I was never one of those people who feel they have to know. I was comfortable with who I was. I had a family who loved me. Even though I was an only child, I had cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents who always treated me as one of their own."

Fast-forward half a century. When Carol was 68, with the prodding of her only grandchild, she obtained a copy of her original birth certificate. "Truthfully when I sent for my birth certificate, I never expected to find any family, maybe just my mother's name. After I got it, it took me several days before I did anything with it."

And then she looked. There was her mother's name, Edna. She looked her up, and there she was in the same neighborhood as the one on her birth certificate, the same neighborhood she grew up in. There was also a brother named Ralph.

"I had assumed my mother was probably deceased, but I thought Ralph might be my brother."

Carol wrote down Ralph's phone number. For a few days, she did nothing. Then she called.

"I dialed the number. A woman answered the phone. I asked to speak to Ralph. When he came on the line, I asked if his mother's name was Edna. Yes it was." And had he ever lived on the address listed on Carol's birth certificate? Yes, again.

"I said I think you're my brother."

Next we hear of the relationship between Carol and her brother Ralph.

Have you been keeping a family secret? Have you told a family secret? Send your tale, along with your questions, problems and rants to [email protected]. And check out my ebooks, "Dear Cheryl: Advice from Tales from the Front" and "I'll Call You. Not."

Photo credit: at Pixabay