A Family Secret
In June of 2018, I had my genetics tested using 23andMe by my doctor. It was an optional part of my physical, but I thought it was a good idea to get a thorough medical checkup.
Being a single mother, I thought about my children’s well-being. In addition to not having a husband, I was self-employed, I had recently lost a few family members to illness, and I was forty-eight years old. I knew that spitting into the tube would reveal some insights about my health and longevity.
I had already experienced some dark moments in my life. My era of darkness fell into five categories: the Runaway Age, the Breakup Age, the Angela’s Ashes Age, the Married to a Bipolar Husband Age, and the Menopause Age. Each of these dark ages brought its own set of surprises and gifts.
My first child was one of those gifts. While my son never met his dad, an Irish bartender in New Orleans, who was either on one side of the bar or the other, I have gratitude for that time. I’m sure you’ve guessed that was during my Angela’s Ashes Age. A year after the birth of my middle daughter, her father and I divorced. That was during the Married to a Bipolar Husband Age. Then, the father of my youngest child moved back to Japan. Because of the stress I was under at that time, I entered the Menopause Age.
