Skeletons

I think it's natural to have skeletons in the closet.  What seems unnatural is how they find their way out.  Imagine running for political office and reading the headlines one morning about some error in judgement you'd made earlier in life.  How did that get divulged?  Did a "friend" say something that should have been kept quiet?  

I am interested in the life of a tale because they are not solitary.  Sure, there may be things we've done that we're not proud of, but when we commit a foul in front of others it's not just our story to tell even if it is our shame to bear.  The story could be kept secret for years only to leak out in passing conversation.

I am thinking about Sarah Palin who married because she was pregnant.  A fact I care little about.  However, I know people who made up their anniversary date because they don't want their children to know they married because of a pregnancy.  That's their skeleton.  Were the Palin's children aware of the circumstances surrounding their wedding before the rest of America learned of it?  I sure hope so.

I just bought Meredith Hall's memoir Without a Map about her early pregnancy (at the age of 16) and the resulting shunning by her family, church, school. and community.  What could be a skeleton for Hall has now been thrown into the open.  What if she hadn't been forthcoming about this background?  It's a huge story when hidden; less so when open.

So, I think about my own skeletons and wonder if they should be let free.  Then I consider that what may be cathartic for me could be quite damaging to those around me.  Whose tale is it to tell?