The Black Sheep.....

Last year I had the pleasure of joining the absolute BEST, Sophisticated, Devastating, Intelligent, Illustrious Sorority ever founded!!!!! Through this newfound sisterhood I met several wonderful women. Not surprisingly, I found out pretty quickly that some of them knew my biological family because they attended the same church. Of course, they didn’t know my connection to this family, but I was aware of any and all things associated with my biological family.  I learned several years earlier how to navigate around my home city to avoid them as much as possible to avoid an unwelcomed and awkward encounter.

About a month ago, I and several of my sorority sisters went on a road trip to celebrate one of our sister’s upcoming nuptials. During the trip we had plenty of fun and recalled stories of our road into the sisterhood. One of my sisters shared her story about her discovery that her stepfather was actually her biological father. This was my window to divulge the details about my situation and I jumped right at the opportunity to share my story, which I didn’t share with many people at all. I literally can count on my fingers how many people know this family secret. Nevertheless, I was eager to share with my sisters my dilemma and let them know my inner turmoil.

Soon, I found out that they didn’t just “know of” my family, but two of them had a very intimate, personal relationship with many family members. A little nervous to have put out my story so hastily without thinking of the repercussions, I continued telling them my convoluted story until I got to what had been my end which was the message from “my uncle.”

Looking shocked and surprised they begin to explain to me that they had never even heard of my biological family. They had been to countless family gatherings and spent intimate holidays with my biological family....and NOTHING....not one mention of his name, not a picture, not a video...NOTHING.

I immediately  called my mother because I’m thinking she MUST have the wrong family....my mother sounded quite irritated and simply reiterated that she had the correct family and that she was certain that was his family.

I continued talking to my sisters, but I must admit I was feeling quite embarrassed and very unsure of my mother’s story. But, then I remembered I had the Facebook message from my uncle. They both had said they knew the family intimately and if I could pull up the message from him....then I would know if I had the right family or not.

I proceeded to pull up the message and click on “my uncle’s” picture....showed it to him....and in fact I DID have the right family! They were both shocked...who was this family secret...this black sheep...this shunned man that was no longer welcome at home???? Had they forgot about the story of the Prodigal Son?

We exchanged theories. My Sorority sisters confirmed that my family was considered the “upper crest” of the city for a very long time. They indeed had many political, religious, and corporate connections that could be bruised by such a scandal. So, this deepened my desire to keep my distance. I concluded that I was content with the idea that God must have kept us apart for a reason...hopefully he would reveal it to me one day....until then....I’ll just be sure not to ruffle any more feathers or reveal too many more skeletons in the closet...or even worse...let anyone know that I, like my father, was just another black sheep of the family....