Thought my brother was my uncle until I was 10 years old
By Nancy Zink
@ramapo17 (30441)
Melbourne, Florida
October 22, 2015 10:26pm CST
Everyone has at least one crazy story in their life and mine is really very unique. When my mom and dad met and married, mom was already divorced and had one son. Mom got pregnant with me and my brother was 2 1/2 by then.
Dad got drafted into the Army during WWII and had to ship out of San Antonio, Texas to go to Germany. We lived in Long Island at the time. Dad was down in Texas before us and mom wanted to see him ship out. She wanted me to go too and planned on taking my brother and I with her but he got so sick and could not leave the house.
My grandmother said she would stay with him and let my mom and I go and see dad off. Dad left and we went back to Long Island and my grandmother turned evil and moved away and when mom tracked her down she had the police at the apartment and claimed my mom was kidnapping my brother. My grandmother was a sick woman.
Mom was alone as dad was gone and she didn't have any money for lawyers, etc. By the time dad came home years later, my grandmother moved to New England and never told mom where she was. To make a long story short, mom finally located my grandmother and brother and we went to see him. That was a good 12 hour ride by car. By now my brother was in school and my grandmother was getting older and needed my brother to help her, so he stayed with her.
Every summer we would take the long ride to visit him and I was told he was my uncle. Why, I never knew. Somewhere along the way, I learned about this whole story and found out my uncle was my brother. We always kept in touch and every summer we looked forward to our visits. He left New England and joined the US Marine Corps and we saw him all the time on leaves.
We are now both down here in Florida and live very close to each other and we laugh at the time he was my uncle before being my brother.
15 people like this
16 responses
@DaddyEvil (137257)
• United States
3 Nov 15
@ramapo17 Wait a minute!
Just how old are you, lady??? At least eighteen, right? 
If you're going to play with us you gotta be at least 18 years old!
*DE leans over and whispers, "Don't worry! We can always sneak you in at the side door! Nobody ever checks I.D.'s at that door!"*
Just how old are you, lady??? At least eighteen, right? If you're going to play with us you gotta be at least 18 years old!
*DE leans over and whispers, "Don't worry! We can always sneak you in at the side door! Nobody ever checks I.D.'s at that door!"*1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (160626)
• United States
23 Oct 15
War time makes people do crazy things, I guess. I am glad you are close.
3 people like this
@ramapo17 (30441)
• Melbourne, Florida
25 Oct 15
@GardenGerty thanks for your comment. I am glad we are close now too.
1 person likes this
@Samanthavv (1380)
• United States
23 Oct 15
I could tell you so many crazy stories. My life puts a telenovela to shame sometimes.
2 people like this
@Samanthavv (1380)
• United States
23 Oct 15
@ramapo17 no problem! It's nice to know I'm not the only one with over the top crazy and unbelievable life stories!
2 people like this
@ramapo17 (30441)
• Melbourne, Florida
23 Oct 15
@Samanthavv you are funny, so nice to meet you
1 person likes this
@ramapo17 (30441)
• Melbourne, Florida
23 Oct 15
We all have some craziness in our lives. Thanks for reading and commenting @Samanthavv.
1 person likes this
@allknowing (136089)
• India
23 Oct 15
Why he was to be your uncle I suppose is a mystery never to be unfolded
2 people like this
@allknowing (136089)
• India
3 Nov 15
@DaddyEvil Perhaps circumstances create such odd and not so welcome situations.
2 people like this
@DaddyEvil (137257)
• United States
3 Nov 15
@ramapo17 Very interesting thread, Nancy!
@allknowing I cannot say for sure, since Nancy is a friend, not my family, but there are a lot of families even now who do not hold to the traditional (U.S. traditions) way of raising their families.
I know one family who had their first boy when the mother and father were only 14 years old themselves. They gave that boy to her mother to raise until they were old enough and responsible enough to raise him themselves.
When the young couple reached 20 years old she became pregnant again. Believing they were mature enough to raise their children, the young parents ask her mother to return their son. She refused. The young couple began court proceedings to take their son back and her mother took the boy and ran away with him.
The boy and his grandmother were finally found and returned. The grandmother was put in jail for kidnapping her grandson. But, since the boy did not know his parents, the courts took him and put him in a foster home until the court decided he had been around his parents enough that the parents could keep him.
When the grandmother got out of jail, she kidnapped the boy again. They still have not been found. I believe their oldest son would be about 15 years old now.
@allknowing I cannot say for sure, since Nancy is a friend, not my family, but there are a lot of families even now who do not hold to the traditional (U.S. traditions) way of raising their families.
I know one family who had their first boy when the mother and father were only 14 years old themselves. They gave that boy to her mother to raise until they were old enough and responsible enough to raise him themselves.
When the young couple reached 20 years old she became pregnant again. Believing they were mature enough to raise their children, the young parents ask her mother to return their son. She refused. The young couple began court proceedings to take their son back and her mother took the boy and ran away with him.
The boy and his grandmother were finally found and returned. The grandmother was put in jail for kidnapping her grandson. But, since the boy did not know his parents, the courts took him and put him in a foster home until the court decided he had been around his parents enough that the parents could keep him.
When the grandmother got out of jail, she kidnapped the boy again. They still have not been found. I believe their oldest son would be about 15 years old now.1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40288)
• Laguna Woods, California
25 Oct 15
Wow! That is quite a family story. We had some neighbors one time, a man and woman, who were both in their 70s, widowed and lived in cottages next door to each other. After living next door to each other for several years, they discovered they were first cousins but had never met! I always thought that was amazing. They became the best of friends in their 70s and did everything together. Since they had both lost their spouses, I thought that was so nice for them that they had each other. Glad to meet you here on this site!
3 people like this
@ramapo17 (30441)
• Melbourne, Florida
25 Oct 15
@DeborahDiane When I had a surprise party given to me and my brother showed up, lots of my friends were surprised I even had a brother and they saw me everyday.
1 person likes this
@slund2041 (3314)
• United States
25 Oct 15
I am so sorry you went through all of that. It must have been tough on you and your mother. It sounds like your grandmother was a wicked lady. I am glad you get to see your brother often now. It is always good to laugh at bad situations.
2 people like this
@ramapo17 (30441)
• Melbourne, Florida
14 Jan 17
@slund2041 You are right, it is good to laugh at things from the past that were bad.
@arthurchappell (44998)
• Preston, England
26 Oct 15
remarkable and sad story - glad it has a happy ending for you and your brother
2 people like this
@ramapo17 (30441)
• Melbourne, Florida
2 Nov 15
Thank you @arthurchappell. I am glad too and we do get the chance to have a few laughs about it. I will tell him if I knew he was my brother way back then I would have antagonized him more than I did. We are 2 1/2 years apart. He is older.
1 person likes this
@Tampa_girl7 (50205)
• United States
25 Oct 15
Wow, what a story. I am glad that you know him now.
2 people like this
@garymarsh6 (23404)
• United Kingdom
25 Oct 15
How sad for you both but at least the truth came out and you get on well now without your grandmother spooling it.
2 people like this
@ramapo17 (30441)
• Melbourne, Florida
28 Oct 15
Thanks @garymarsh6. It's been a long time and both my brother and myself can now laugh about it.
2 people like this
@PainsOnSlate (21852)
• Canada
23 Oct 15
At least the end of the story was a happy one, it must have been hard on your mother all those years. A crazy grandmother couldn't have been a happy part of life either. Glad you can laugh at it now.
2 people like this
@DaddyEvil (137257)
• United States
24 Oct 15
Wow! How come this is the first time I have heard about your "uncle", Nancy?
Don't tell me... 
I missed at least a bunch of your bubbles, and his story was in one of those, huh?
I missed at least a bunch of your bubbles, and his story was in one of those, huh?1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (137257)
• United States
25 Oct 15
@ramapo17 I think I may know a LOT more about you than you realize you've told online, because I tend to eavesdrop on friends... I don't mean to, I just don't like to interrupt a conversation in progress and I walk so quietly that I startle people all the time when I speak and they didn't realize I was there.
1 person likes this
@ramapo17 (30441)
• Melbourne, Florida
26 Oct 15
@DaddyEvil and believe there is a lot more that you don't know. Hold onto your hat, maybe more will come out soon, hahahaha.
is a lot more that you don't know. Hold onto your hat, maybe more will come out soon, hahahaha.1 person likes this
@ramapo17 (30441)
• Melbourne, Florida
24 Oct 15
It was always to long to write this whole thing out @daddyevil so I never wrote about it. I can't let you know everything in 
my life you know, then there would be no surprises.
my life you know, then there would be no surprises.1 person likes this
@Pattitude (1287)
• Newton, North Carolina
8 Nov 15
Wow, what a story! I'm glad you were reunited.
1 person likes this
