Unexpected suprises
At a little after 11:00 am this morning I was sitting in my office doing paperwork when my secretary called to say a young woman was at the front asking to speak with me. I didn't recognize the woman's name and my secretary said she wasn't a client so I wasn't sure what it might be about. Going up to the front I found an attractive young woman with freckles and brown hair and eyes sitting there waiting rather anxiously. I introduced myself and led her around the corner into the hall away from the clients who were in the waiting area so that we could talk more privately. That's when she smiled at me and said simply "My name's Krystal and I'm your half-sister, your father's youngest child. I've been wanting to meet you."
I had a moment of shock. I've known that I have a few half-siblings but I'd never heard about one named Krystal. The ones that I know of are a rather rough sort, one of the reasons I'm a bit conflicted about developing a relationship with them, but this woman looks sweet, intelligent, a very nice sort...
We go back to my office and work through some very awkward conversation. We discuss our relative places in the rather spreading family tree. I acknowledge how much courage it must have taken for her to just walk in and present herself and I express my confusion over why I had never even heard of her before. She begins to cry, a mixture of relief and something else I don't yet understand, something between her and the others. We exchange information about ourselves.
She's 18, graduating from high school this week, doing some honors college classes over the summer and then going to ISU to major in social work. She enjoys reading and theater, finds people open up to her easily and enjoys helping others, lives a clean and spiritually oriented life. For all our differences of age and circumstance, we found we are very much alike.
We're just getting comfortable talking so I ask her to have lunch with me. Conversation continues over mexican food and she begins sharing what she knows of my father with me. They had a conflicted and distant relationship but she knew him much better than I did (having only met him twice in my life). We end up talking through lunch, and then more back in my office thanks to my 1:00 client not showing. She gives me a copy of my father's military awards verification and an invitation to her graduation. We talk about getting together again soon, perhaps her coming camping with us next weekend since she loves the outdoors as well- something my father apparently left us both in our genes as it was one of the deepest parts of him.
We part happily with a hug, glowing from the wonder of finding previously unknown kin of blood and kind.
I think it's going to take me a while to absorb and process all of this...
I had a moment of shock. I've known that I have a few half-siblings but I'd never heard about one named Krystal. The ones that I know of are a rather rough sort, one of the reasons I'm a bit conflicted about developing a relationship with them, but this woman looks sweet, intelligent, a very nice sort...
We go back to my office and work through some very awkward conversation. We discuss our relative places in the rather spreading family tree. I acknowledge how much courage it must have taken for her to just walk in and present herself and I express my confusion over why I had never even heard of her before. She begins to cry, a mixture of relief and something else I don't yet understand, something between her and the others. We exchange information about ourselves.
She's 18, graduating from high school this week, doing some honors college classes over the summer and then going to ISU to major in social work. She enjoys reading and theater, finds people open up to her easily and enjoys helping others, lives a clean and spiritually oriented life. For all our differences of age and circumstance, we found we are very much alike.
We're just getting comfortable talking so I ask her to have lunch with me. Conversation continues over mexican food and she begins sharing what she knows of my father with me. They had a conflicted and distant relationship but she knew him much better than I did (having only met him twice in my life). We end up talking through lunch, and then more back in my office thanks to my 1:00 client not showing. She gives me a copy of my father's military awards verification and an invitation to her graduation. We talk about getting together again soon, perhaps her coming camping with us next weekend since she loves the outdoors as well- something my father apparently left us both in our genes as it was one of the deepest parts of him.
We part happily with a hug, glowing from the wonder of finding previously unknown kin of blood and kind.
I think it's going to take me a while to absorb and process all of this...