Ask Amy: Chance discovery changes everything at home
Dear Sister: Your father impregnated two women at around the same time. He married one of them. You may not know the particulars of your parents’ decision to get married that long time ago; their relationship might not have been longstanding, stable, and exclusive when your mother got pregnant with you. Regardless of your folks’ relationship status at the time, this is further proof that people are complicated. DNA findings are challenging many families to come to grips with this fact.
It is possible that — on some level — your mother has anticipated this. She has already followed through on your original finding, and so your question is really about how to bring up this challenging topic.
The way to have a difficult conversation is to be brave enough to initiate it, and wise and sensitive enough to be patient concerning its course and outcome.
Dear Amy: I felt for “Heartbroken in Dallas,” whose partner left just after he had recovered from cancer.
I found that the one thing that brought me through a heartbreak was music. It has mysterious, but effective, healing powers.
— Been There
Dear Been There: Music rearranges emotions, moods, and a person’s outlook. Great suggestion.
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(You can email Amy Dickinson at askamy@amydickinson.com or send a letter to Ask Amy, P.O. Box 194, Freeville, NY 13068. You can also follow her on Twitter @askingamy or Facebook.)
©2020 Amy Dickinson. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
