Ask Amy: Family secret destroys a lifelong friendship
Dear Amy: I’m holding on to a longtime family friend's secret, and it’s very upsetting.
My friend “Chris” and I grew up together as kids. We always acted as members of each other’s extended family. We are now middle-aged.
Our mothers were friends from kindergarten on, until each of their untimely deaths, when they were in their 50s.
I was given a huge burden when my parents told me that Chris has a different father than the man who raised him and who he thought was his father.
His parents took their secret to the grave.
Does this need to stay a secret, now that his parents are dead?
Does he deserve to know?
How would he benefit if I told him now?
I stopped our friendship a few years back under the burden of knowing this. I just couldn’t handle it. Should I tell him?
– Holding a Secret
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