I delved into my family's history – and discovered a long-hidden secret. But was it mine to tell? | Marisa Bate
I wanted to learn more about my mother. But when her half-brother that I knew nothing about got in touch, I was faced with an agonising decision
I’m sitting in my great-aunt’s retirement home on the outskirts of Detroit, Michigan. It’s not yet October, but for reasons I don’t quite understand the home is throwing a Thanksgiving dinner for residents and guests. I join my great-aunt June and the other octogenarians piling up their paper plates at the buffet. Then we sit at trestle tables lined with tiny pumpkins, while framed photos of the recently deceased sit on top of the grand piano, seemingly looking our way.
The early holiday celebrations weren’t the only surprise when I arrived in Michigan. I was there to research a book I was writing about the history of the women’s movement, but also about my mother, whose life story echoes the rise and fall of second-wave feminism. In 1974, a year after Roe v Wade passed, my 22-year-old mother travelled from Essex, England to New York City and took a Greyhound bus across the country to visit June, who was then living in Omaha, Nebraska. At that time, my mum’s life, as it was for so many women of the era, was full of promise. She was the first in the family to go to university, coming of age alongside the revolutionary ideas of the 1960s. I wanted to learn from June who my mum was when everything still seemed possible. I was on this journey as a journalist and as a daughter; in each of these roles, I wanted to know everything.
Marisa Bate is a journalist, author and former Guardian reporter
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
Continue reading...Topics
-
'I'm a patriot, I love my country', Khalife tells spy trial
Top stories - BBC News - October 30 -
How should I tell my bigoted mother that my daughter has come out?
World - The Guardian - October 25 -
I left my husband after he raped me. Should I tell our daughter what happened? | Ask Philippa
World - The Guardian - October 27 -
To my distant cousin Justin Welby: our family’s slavery history is truly awful. Let’s be open about it | Alex Renton
World - The Guardian - October 23 -
The secret health hell of being scammed: ‘I felt as though my mind was disintegrating’
World - The Guardian - October 23 -
How I Discovered I Was Stolen at Birth
Top stories - The New York Times - November 7 -
The 'smartest' thing this HR expert negotiated in a job offer: 'I tell my clients to do that all the time'
Business - CNBC - October 22 -
‘This election season has been tense’: I voted for Kamala Harris and my husband voted for Donald Trump. Should I tell him?
Business - MarketWatch - November 6 -
Sara Sharif’s father tells court 10-year-old’s death was ‘all my fault’
World - The Guardian - Yesterday
More from The Guardian
-
Donald Trump announces vaccine skeptic RFK Jr to lead US health department – live updates
World - The Guardian - 10 minutes ago -
Stop ‘draconian’ mass deportations of Haitians fleeing gangs, activists say
World - The Guardian - 2 hours ago -
UN special committee likens Israeli policy in Gaza to genocide
World - The Guardian - 6 hours ago -
NSO – not government clients – operates its spyware, legal documents reveal
World - The Guardian - 1 hour ago -
London-based Russian TV chef Alexei Zimin found dead in Belgrade
World - The Guardian - 4 hours ago
Latest in World
-
Donald Trump announces vaccine skeptic RFK Jr to lead US health department – live updates
World - The Guardian - 10 minutes ago -
West Indies v England: third men’s T20 cricket international – live
World - The Guardian - 10 minutes ago -
Paris on alert as Israeli soccer team to play after violence in Amsterdam
World - CBS News - 13 minutes ago -
Fans clash at football match between France and Israel
World - The Guardian - 20 minutes ago -
Israel Bombs Targets in Syria, and Keeps Up Strikes in Lebanon
World - The New York Times - 27 minutes ago