Alienation

The untold wonders of modern
technology. At nineteen, the
Internet a veritable fount of
surprising information. She
hardly recalls how he looked,
her father, remembers not one thing
about her grandparents who felt
pained acknowledging her
very existence, thought her
mother a whore, bypassing the
sacrament of marriage, though
the relationship was of twenty
years' duration. One day of idle
thought she set aside her constant
resentment that she meant less
than nothing to them all; father,
uncle, aunt and grandparents. No
effort ever extended over those
sixteen years as she outgrew
her childhood to see her, know
of her, celebrate her existence.
Google and Facebook became
marvels of revelation: grandfather
dead at 87, his obituary dated the
year previous. Aunt widowed at
42, childless. Her father childless
as well but for her, and living
nearby. Uncle who knows, not
Internet-conversant. And at 82
grandmother, posted the aunt, died
that very day of the search.