DEAR ABBY: I am 14 and recently went snooping through some old boxes in the attic. In one of them, I found a wedding picture with my mother as a bride. I was shocked to see that the groom was not my father. He was a man who is a friend of the family! The date on the photograph is 1980. I had no clue that my mother was ever married before.
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Do you think my father knows? I don't know what to do with this news. -- IN SHOCK IN OREGON
DEAR IN SHOCK: Here's what to do with the "news." Show the wedding picture to your mother and say, "That must have been some costume party!"
Seriously, I'm sure her first marriage isn't meant to be a deep, dark family secret. I'm also sure your father is aware of it, because a prior marriage is something that someone HAS to reveal before remarrying; the question is asked at the registrar's office when a couple applies for a marriage license.