I learned recently that I am autistic, as is (at least) one of my kids. As a result, I have been thinking a lot about life events, trauma, and how I interpreted various experiences through this new lens of autism. And it’s resulted in some interesting things – some that make me happy, some that are a relief, some that are sad and/or painful.

On one side of my family, we have an oral history about an ancestor who was Native American. However, when my parent had their ancestry analyzed, they learned that they were likely Irish/Scottish and not Native American at all. It has been interesting watching this parent navigate this new information that is contrary to what they believed for their whole life.

So have you ever received information that changed how you viewed yourself or caused you to re-evaluate some large aspect of who you are or experiences you’ve had?