And You Shall Know the Truth

"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." Leo Tolstoy

I wonder if she has any idea what she has done. She comes from a family with a long history of secrets. Don't tell this person that. Don't tell that person this. Go ahead and whisper a few words here and a few words there. Raise an eyebrow, or share a knowing glance. But let's not ever say what's what or who's who. Lies, half-truths and miscommunications abound in this family. Siblings pitted against each other by a parent. Cousins who never even meet. Folks not on speaking terms with others for years on end, and no one seems to know why.

I wonder if she has any idea what she has done. Abuse reached across a generation and grabbed at her children. She stopped it cold. It was what any loving parent would do, what any normal person would do, but this was no normal family.

I wonder if she has any idea what she has done. She then did the most stunning thing of all. She told other family members. She spoke the truth. This woman who was once a quiet girl in pigtails stood up and cleared her throat. "Excuse me?" she seemed to be saying, "The emperor has no clothes!" She didn't do it to cause dissention. She spoke the truth because, well because that is what normal people do. It is not normal to keep secrets. But this was no normal family.

I wonder if she has any idea what she has done. I'm delighted to imagine certain family members rolling in their graves, because when she spoke the truth she shook this family to its very foundation. And that had been long overdue.

You know what they say about the truth? It really does set you free. So wonder no more, for when this woman spoke the truth she set this family free.

Susan