“Some secrets don’t die with people — they leave questions behind for everyone else.”

I like to write about spooky stuff, including *EEK* politics, as well as various lifestyle and pop culture topics.

Note: This post contains mentions of many upsetting topics, including abuse, sexual assault, suicide, and hateful ideologies. 

"Family is shocked. They do a DNA test to see if George was Pennie's father (even though George moved across the country years before Pennie's birth). George is also not the father. Grandma's sister suspects it was Grandma's former boss, who died in 2010."

"His sister's husband used to put her in the hospital. Everybody in their family apparently knew and handled the abuse the way families did back then, which is to say they didn't. When she was pregnant, he beat her husband so badly that the man lost sight in one eye. He did four years in prison for it. The husband took off, and the baby was born with a heart defect. From inside prison, he started signing everything over — the house their father left him, later his pension, then an injury settlement from the shop. Every surgery was paid for.

What nobody really gets, still, is that she's the one who cut him off. She testified against him at the trial. From the letters, it sounds like she never forgave him, said he took her choice away, and made her son the kid whose dad got half-killed and whose uncle went to prison. She took the money, though. He kept sending it, and she kept taking it, and neither of them ever spoke again.

The nephew's a pharmacist now. My dad tracked him down, and he drove out for the funeral we scraped together. Fifteen people who'd spent decades rolling their eyes at this man watched a stranger cry over the casket.

The drinking started the year the checks stopped. The whole town thought we knew exactly who he was."

Note: Comments have been edited for length/clarity.

Dial 988 in the United States to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The 988 Lifeline is available 24/7/365. Your conversations are free and confidential. Other international suicide helplines can be found at befrienders.org. The Trevor Project, which provides help and suicide-prevention resources for LGBTQ youth, is 1-866-488-7386.

If you or someone you know is in immediate danger as a result of domestic violence, call 911. For anonymous, confidential help, you can call the 24/7 National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE) or chat with an advocate via the website.

If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 (HOPE), which routes the caller to their nearest sexual assault service provider. You can also search for your local center here. 

If you are concerned that a child is experiencing or may be in danger of abuse, you can call or text the National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453 (4.A.CHILD); service can be provided in over 140 languages.