What you don't know about your parents

We're all of a certain age here, aren't we? We have life experiences. We've shared in the life experiences of our friends. We've all made mistakes. We got some stuff right. And then we made more mistakes.

C'est la vie.

Maybe some of you have children, or have friends with children. Think about all the drama in your life that your kids don't know about. Or are too small to understand.

Now imagine all the drama that (probably) happened in your parents' lives that you'll (probably) never know about.

It occured to me the other night while sitting at the kitchen table with a friend, her offspring sleeping in the other room. We talked about the relationship issues, being on the brink of separation, the money issues, the therapy... the triumphs and the lows. Chances are, her relationship will be rebuilt on stronger foundations without the offspring ever knowing how close they all came to disaster.

I have so many memories - some even documented by photographs - of me playing in the kitchen while my mother gossiped with her friends over a cup of coffee. Of being sent to bed so that the adults could talk. Whispers of illness and death that I didn't understand - or care to understand.

What secrets were they telling, so confident that I wasn't listening? What secrets were your parents telling while you played with pots and pans in the corner?