I found out that my biological father had one child right out of high school, 5 children in his first marriage, 1 child in his second marriage and of course, me.

They say I’m the female version of him. I can’t explain it but that makes me terribly sad. I left Atlanta wanting to know more about him and for the first time missing the father that I never knew.

For years I attributed my different personality traits to my mother. I guess because I didn’t know any better. Over the weekend I discovered that my issues with privacy come from my father (e.g., no one even knew about me until a couple years ago; and no one knew he was terminally ill until the very end). My brother has the same “to hell with ‘em” attitude that I have – ready to cut someone off at the drop of a hat. He lectured me about not trying to control uncontrollable situations. I’ve given that same lecture to my kids.

It was weird. The activities of the weekend were nothing spectacular. I got to visit a new city. We had a reception designed to meet and greet. We did some shopping and then ended the weekend with a banquet. The best part of the weekend was the one-on-one conversations I was able to have with different members of the family. My uncle told the story of how he had come home on leave from the Air Force about 40 years ago. His brother (my father) told him to come take a ride with him. They got in the car and drove about 15 miles in circles only to end up at a house that was just a few blocks from his own house. They walked in the door and my uncle sat on the couch and watched as his brother sat on the floor and played with a baby girl. No one in the room explained the relationship to my uncle. He could tell who I was but it was never confirmed until after my father died.

The kids had a great time and they think hotel living is the best thing ever invented. The boys shared a room, hooked up the PS2 and played games until they were called down for the different activities. My daughter lived in the pool. We stopped in High Point, NC on the way and these pics were taken there.

It was a good weekend. I’m glad that I went and I’m making plans to attend next year in Philly. I’m also going to make an effort to stay in regular contact with my family.