Imagine My Surprise....

 When I saw the prompt for this weeks post- Surprise- I knew just what to write about. (I won't be using any names as some of the players are still living)

  Just imagine my surprise when I discovered Mom had 3 half siblings we never knew about!!  My parents and grandparents are all gone. There's no one to ask, but I have to wonder if my Mom even knew about them! 

  There were stories that Grandad was married before he met  Grandma.  We even suspected he was still married to his first wife when they got together.... there were quiet rumblings in the family... suggestions of a scandal of that sort.

  My Grandad had moved into the area where Grandma lived in a time of recession... he went where the work was. They met and fell in love. And he was the love of my Grandma's life! They had a son together, then a few years later my Mom.  

 Unfortunately, Grandad was diagnosed with cancer. Grandma took care of him at home until he died, just after Mom's 1st birthday. 

  Grandma and Mom later immigrated to Canada.  Grandma met someone else, remarried and had a couple more children. And no one ever talked about the past. I knew Grandad's name and that he died of cancer before Mom was 2. That's about it. 

 After Mom died, I got into genealogy and began researching my Grandparents story. We knew they may not have been married when my uncle was born, but believed they had married by the time Mom came along. I know how these things go. I know you have to take those family stories with a grain of salt. I was prepared when I found out they never actually married. 

 A couple years passed by, I was busy researching other lines of the family. Then one day, I suddenly wondered if Grandad could have had children with his first wife. I don't know why I had never considered that before. I did the research and sure enough.... I found they'd had 3 children together! My Mom had 3 half-siblings!

 Did Mom know about them? Did Grandma? I hope Grandma did! They lived quite a distance apart, so wouldn't have ever run into each other. I don't know if Grandma even knew any of Grandad's family. Why don't we ask more questions? 

 From what I can tell, one half-sibling died young. And another has such a common name, I can't be sure I have the right person. As I was researching the 3rd, I came across her obituary. I was about 8 months late to maybe be able to connect with her. I managed to connect with one of her daughter-in-law's though. She was interested in working together to find out more, but when she broached the family, they wanted nothing to do with it. 

 There won't be any happy family reunions for this family! I am disappointed, I would have liked to learn what they could tell me about my Grandad. (if anything- since the kids were pretty young when he left). But I completely understand how they'd feel with something like that coming out of left field. I respect their wishes. 

 I'm sure there will be other surprises as I continue this journey of learning where and who I came from, but probably none quite like the surprise of finding my Mom had 3 half siblings!