On the other hand, I am a survivor of sexual abuse etc from my father and another man and found out (long long story) about 10 yrs ago that my father (parents divorced when I was 9) is the father of his own niece's son. I met
the son while going to my hometown to do genealogy research and my maiden name was called to the phone. I watched the about 16 yr old obviously mentally challenged boy go to the phone and wondered how we were related (small town). There was a tornado warning, we all had to go to the basement and I had a chance to ask who his parents were and told him that his last name was my maiden name. He mentioned my cousin's name as his mother...I couldn't understand a lot of what he was saying. When we returned home from our trip, I called my mother to ask if she knew that my cousin (never close...long story) had a son ..probably out of wedlock, since he had his mother's last name.
My mother said "You don't know who he is?" (I have had great boundaries the past 25 yrs..so little contact). I told her no,, I didn't know who he is. She then told me the boy I met (I was about 45) was my brother.
It took a few seconds to set in...then she went on to tell me that "everyone" in the family knew that her father caught my father in bed with his 17 (my father would have been 47) daughter and had a massive heart attack and died. I was stunned, sickened and I still can't wrap my head around it. My father also at one time married his own father's first wife..she was way old and God knows what his deal was. (thought she had money probably)..anyway, sickening, dysfunctional things are in this world and unfortunately, in this case, the son of my father and his niece is mentally impaired. I would guess as a 16 yr old, he was mentally about 6.
I have 2 sons of my own, one in his 2nd year of med school, one works for 2nd is in his 2nd year of college.
They do not know my family...have met my own mother maybe 5 times in their entire lives...and they are 26 and 19...and never met my father until he was on his deathbed in 1998...and then only my 26 yr old met him.
There was no way I wanted my children to grow up in the craziness I did.
I can't honestly say how Casey would feel or behave IF she was victimized by a member of her own family..I went into therapy at 27 and spent years of work. I will say that my whole life goal as long as I remembered was to live differently than I was raised...I never felt compelled to sleep around..I've been married 30 yrs this month ..but I was very blessed to know all of my life that it wasn't ok or normal. I don't know how, but I knew.
As an adult, my aunt told me the reason I spent so much time as all of their homes as a small child is that they knew I was abused somehow...this was the 50's..I was born in '52...so about 4 sets of aunts and uncles took me often. I think they may have been angels in my life to show me what normal was.
I will not excuse Casey if she murdered her daughter, but I will be willing to acknowledge that she needs mental health help more than punishment.
Dianna ^i^
Okay, I don't want to gross anybody out here or anything, but my grandfather's parents were brother and sister, and he seemed fine -- good looking, college educated, perfectly healthy (until he died of old age.) I'm fine; my children are fine. So the children of brothers and sisters can't always be genetically defective.
