My H's dad (adopted) was a politician and still worries constantly what others think. My MIL was incredibly controlling and full of anxiety so she always corrected and prodded and pushed H into doing things HER way. They both went wayyyyyyy over the limits when it came to MAKING their son BE who THEY thought HE should be.
My H was adopted and looked completely different from the rest of the family. BUT, they never told him until he was 13. Can you imagine being the odd-man out for 13 years? He was always painfully honest and the kinda kid who would tell people stuff that was inappropriate but he didn't see it.
H's biological dad was MIL's college sweetheart. He got her pregnant. Not sure they ever married and then he split when H was two. He lived, for 40 plus years, 10 minutes away from H, but never saw him. Just shut H out of his life, completely.
MIL, IMHO, really loved the biological dad and it broke her heart when he left. H is a dead-ringer for his real dad. So, off and on as H grew up, she would comment on how handsome H was and say things like "he has such a cute butt." REALLY weird. Anyway, I always thought it musta been ridiculously hard on H and FIL to have this constant reminder of this "shameful" situation from the past. AND H WAS the Shameful reminder. Ick.
sad and ick.
Heather
"You know, it's times like these when I realize what a superhero I am." Tony Stark/Iron Man
“Focus on what you can do, then do it with all your heart.” Lois Wilson
