I had my mind completely blown last night. A distant relative of mine is working on a family tree and sent out a draft to the family for review. As I'm looking down the list I see an extra box beside my grandparents among their other children. I don't recognize the name and then I realize this child died 1 month after their first birthday. I stare at it in shock, wondering how I could go all these years not knowing that my grandparents had another child I knew nothing about.
To some people this may not be a big deal, but I am very close to my family. I see my parents several times a week, we do Sunday family dinners, I visit both sets of my grandparents a minimum of once a month. I was shocked to see that my dad had another sibling. After texting my mom I find out that this child died from pneumonia when she was a year old. My heart felt heavy and broken just knowing my grandparents went through the pain of losing a child. The things that happen in people's lives that they don't share or talk about, really reminds me never to judge as everyone has this amazing and often painful background that defines who they are today.
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