7 Years Ago I Both Lost My Dad and Found Out Who He Really Was
On attending my uncle’s funeral and finding out he was actually my father.
It’s not every day you attend your uncle’s funeral and also find out he’s your father. For me, seven years ago, that’s exactly what happened. I headed up to another state to attend what I thought was my uncle’s funeral and came home knowing he was actually my biological father, even though technically, legally, he’d been my father from the day I was born.
Confused yet? Welcome to the shit show that’s my family.
In North Carolina, if a woman becomes pregnant and is married, legally, her husband goes on the birth certificate as the father. At least, that’s how it was when I was born, I’m not sure if that’s still the case today. My mother was married to my “uncle” when I was born, even though they were no longer together. They’d been separated for quite some time and she was living with and in a relationship with my “father”, his brother.
Since she was still legally married to Jon, my “uncle”, by law, his name went on my birth certificate. I’m not sure when I realized this, probably not until I got my first work permit and saw my birth certificate for the first time. I remember asking my mother why Jon’s name was listed under father and…
