As she lay dying, she decided to reveal a secret. A deathbed confession that could ease the guilt…a cry for forgiveness for the duplicity…a pathway to a hidden truth? Was this truth best forgotten, or should the family know? Once it was revealed, it would not be forgotten but unforgettable. So she told her daughter what she believed to be the truth about her older daughter’s paternity. The dying woman did not, however, reveal the child’s father’s name. Pandora’s box had been opened.

Through time, the daughter kept the secret hidden and forgotten. Life went on while the people who could be hurt by the secret continued to live their lives. The daughter did realize that her father knew the secret and had lived with it during the length of his marriage. Should the daughter tell her sister about her paternity, or leave it forgotten and buried? The truth would be far reaching with its emotional damage.

Through time, the daughter decided that the truth should be known. She would be the revealer of this truth. (What her motives and intentions were in proclaiming this secret are unknown.) She released the secret to selected family members. How did she perceive the shock, the disbelief of the listeners as they internalized what was spoken? Did she ever wish that all was forgotten and not revealed? Pandora’s box had been opened.

Families are the repositories of secrets that can linger and overcloud their members. Should the real truth and secrets be shared or forgotten? As time goes by, what really is the truth?