Ladies, what if you found out that the man you've been married to was actually your father? Would you want to fill your bathtub with bleach and sit in it for a week or longer? Would you want to kill yourself? Would you let them turn your story into a Lifetime movie? These are questions I want to ask Valerie Spruill of Ohio.
Her life is one that started out on the wrong track. Her mother, one of the original "night ladies" from the Judge James Barbuto corruption trial of 1980 sent then 3-month-old Spruill in a taxi to her grandparents house. When she was nine, she found out that the man she thought was her father was actually her grandfather, and the "family friend" who came around all the time was actually her mother.
When she met her husband in Akron, she had no idea that he was her father. It was as if she was the only one in Akron who didn't know that she was married to - and had children by - the man who gave her life. Can you imagine that? Through all of the family gatherings, Christmases, Thanksgivings, Fourth of Julys, whatever. No one said a word. Instead, they whispered in front of her and talked behind her back.
She is now 60 years old with three children and eight grandkids. She lives in Doylestown and is retired from her job. Her husband/father Percy Spruill died in 1998, but she found out through an uncle about the horrible secret just eight years ago. She confirmed it when she found a brush under her dresser that had hair in it which she used to obtain a DNA test.
She's telling her story because she wants to show people that no matter how screwed up a person's life is, something positive can still come out of it.
I can't begin to tell you how I would feel if I were in her shoes. The whole Oedipus thing doesn't sit well with me.
When she met her husband in Akron, she had no idea that he was her father. It was as if she was the only one in Akron who didn't know that she was married to - and had children by - the man who gave her life. Can you imagine that? Through all of the family gatherings, Christmases, Thanksgivings, Fourth of Julys, whatever. No one said a word. Instead, they whispered in front of her and talked behind her back.
She is now 60 years old with three children and eight grandkids. She lives in Doylestown and is retired from her job. Her husband/father Percy Spruill died in 1998, but she found out through an uncle about the horrible secret just eight years ago. She confirmed it when she found a brush under her dresser that had hair in it which she used to obtain a DNA test.
She's telling her story because she wants to show people that no matter how screwed up a person's life is, something positive can still come out of it.
I can't begin to tell you how I would feel if I were in her shoes. The whole Oedipus thing doesn't sit well with me.
