When I first began listening to the podcast my first initial reaction to Mrs. Miller how could a woman do this to not just these two girls but her whole entire family? I could not seem to wrap my head around the fact that she knew that she had taken the wrong child home from the hospital for 43 years and never said anything. Later on I came to find out that she actually confronted Mr. Miller about it the day that she took Marti home and he just fluffed it off. He said that if they brought this up that this would be an insult to the doctor that they have been seeing for many years and trusted. When Mrs. Miller was interviewed many years later after Mr. Miller had passed she explained how she knew that if she went against her husband that it would have ruined their marriage. She had children to take care of and didn’t want her family to fall apart. She just couldn’t understand why her husband thought this was ok and I completely agree with her. After hearing her explanation I can see her point of view as well because if I was in her situation I would be overwhelmed and confused too.
Overall the interviews with the different family members between the McDonald family and the Miller family moved the story along without having specific guidelines that they had to follow throughout. This was nice because they were free to just say how they felt and you really got a feel for how this situation changed their lives. The emotion behind the interviews were so powerful especially when Sue was afraid that the outgoing Marti would win over both families but actually Marti was the one who felt as though she was the one left out. In the interview Marti began to cry because she felt as though she was never going to be fully accepted into the McDonald family. However, in the end the two families were able to accept one another and move on after what had happened. They would go to family parties together as well as weddings. Sue and Marti would say how they were both sort of related anyways so why not! It was a nice ending to a story that could have ended in a very different way.
Overall the interviews with the different family members between the McDonald family and the Miller family moved the story along without having specific guidelines that they had to follow throughout. This was nice because they were free to just say how they felt and you really got a feel for how this situation changed their lives. The emotion behind the interviews were so powerful especially when Sue was afraid that the outgoing Marti would win over both families but actually Marti was the one who felt as though she was the one left out. In the interview Marti began to cry because she felt as though she was never going to be fully accepted into the McDonald family. However, in the end the two families were able to accept one another and move on after what had happened. They would go to family parties together as well as weddings. Sue and Marti would say how they were both sort of related anyways so why not! It was a nice ending to a story that could have ended in a very different way.
Carlton Williamson/ Julie Tremblay response
I definitely felt the same way Julie, in the beginning when I found out that Mrs. Miller had kept that secret for forty three years I thought she was evil and deserved no sympathy at all. As the story progress I tried to keep an open mind and heart and eventually learned her reasoning which you aforementioned in your post. I do take in to consideration that this event took place during the 1950’s. Due to the way society was established back then Mrs. Miller really did not have much of a say compared to our modern society. After hearing her side of the story I definitely agree with you and respect her decision. She made a decision that saved the destiny of her family.
Although the story seemed to have a fairy tale ending, I still sense that not everyone is fully genuine in regards to the situation. In order to have peace the families agree to coexists, but I feel as though there is still a bit of awkwardness. The daughters have multiple families to keep up with and honestly in my opinion that is confusing mentally and emotionally. I also believe that if the families are friendly with each other there is hidden jealousy amongst the daughters and possessiveness in each family member. I don’t believe everything is just going to continue to be “diddly dadddly” all families have conflicts and I believe that this situation may cause dispute or separation down the road. That’s just my opinion though I tend to over analyze situations.
Although the story seemed to have a fairy tale ending, I still sense that not everyone is fully genuine in regards to the situation. In order to have peace the families agree to coexists, but I feel as though there is still a bit of awkwardness. The daughters have multiple families to keep up with and honestly in my opinion that is confusing mentally and emotionally. I also believe that if the families are friendly with each other there is hidden jealousy amongst the daughters and possessiveness in each family member. I don’t believe everything is just going to continue to be “diddly dadddly” all families have conflicts and I believe that this situation may cause dispute or separation down the road. That’s just my opinion though I tend to over analyze situations.
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