Family secrets

If you know me you know me to be shockingly white. Meaning; my Latino friends laugh about how my skin glows like a beacon light in a dark starry night and that is with a tan. I don't notice my whiteness until I'm with darker friends. With that aside, I always felt out of place growing up. My lips were fuller, my hips and bum were fuller, and my thick wavy/curly hair had very kinky black hairs weaved throughout my head and still do to this day. I was raised with red heads, blondes, very thin lipped, and no butt people. I use to question my folks if I was adopted. My mom would laugh and say no and ask why I thought that when I was born red headed like my dad. Yes, my dad once was red headed and not snow covered. He was also the only white man I knew that could fluff his hair into an Afro and his hair never looked wet after showering or swimming. I just always wondered....

Then a few days ago my cousin, which I've never met, posted a picture on Facebook that one of my grandfather's brothers took. My grandfather is in the front row between the dark kid and the two girls wearing overalls. I knew that was grandpa before asking my aunt because it looked like my dad. 

What's the big deal about this photo? Well, that dark kid is not a neighbor kid. That is my grandpa's baby brother. In fact, most in the photo are blood relations, except for the two blonde and light brown young ladies behind my grandpa. Those are wives of his brothers, Bob and Basil. Basil's wife is holding a mason jar while Basil tAkes the picture of his family. Great grandma holds a young squirming child in her arms and great grandpa holds a rifle. 

When I saw the dark kid and the not so white looking features on the rest of the clan I wondered if someone wasn't telling me something important about my heritage. I texted my aunt and she told me what she knew, which was not much because my own grandpa did not know a damn thing about his own mother. It seems she is a mystery woman. I was told she was very dark with thick coarse hair and piercing blue eyes. Each one of their children were a surprise. One was red head, dark skin, and green eyes. Blondes, brunettes, brown eyes, blue eyes,pale skin, dark skin, etc... But that one in the front took them all by surprise. He was black eyed, dark dark skin, and tight curly hair. I always heard stories about the "dark ones" that looked "Mexican" but I never actually saw a picture. That, my friend, is no Mexican. Speculation from my aunt was it might be Jewish heritage because great grandma had a big nose. Lots of ethnic groups have large noses. It seems more plausible that grandma was "passing white" and DNA had a little surprise up its sleeve. 

My aunt summed up what everybody else seems to skirt around when you bring up the fact we might be mixed is, " I don't know if I want to know."

I do want to know. I think it's wrong to ignore our heritage, even if we find unpleasantness. I would like to honor my great grandmother. I now know I was not adopted and I'm not the only one with the kinky black hairs interwoven on my scalp. I'm not a pure blood. I'm a mutt. I'm the melting pot. 

**Picture circa depression era...grandpa was old enough to be in the Battle of the Bulge during WWII and he looks to be around 10 to 12 here.