SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET

(June, 2013) The following was in the Dear Prudence column on Slate.com:
“Dear Prudence: Three decades ago, I killed a man. He had broken into my home, armed; we struggled, he died. It was clearly self-defense and, frankly, I have no regrets or remorse. A few months ago, my wife’s brother did a Google search and discovered a report on the incident, which he’s shared widely in the family. He’s also taken to calling me “Killer.” Normally, I’d be amused but some friends and family have reacted quite negatively, with one breaking all ties, another telling my wife that they’d rather not have me around their children, and a couple seemingly eager to either psychoanalyze me or get the gruesome details. How do I get people to understand that I am not interested in dredging up the past and that something that happened long ago has very little bearing on who I am today?”
* I can’t believe they have the nerve to mess with this guy.
* Look, haven’t we all, at one time or another, killed a guy? What – No? Okay, never mind.
* Hey, if it’s not to be a pain-in-the-ass, what are brother-in-laws for?
* I can think of someone else who wished he had lived another 30 years.
* On the bright side, I doubt if anyone will break into your house again.
* Invite your brother-in-law to go on a hike in the woods. He’ll get the message.
* PHONE TOPIC: Did you ever discover a skeleton in the closet of somebody in your family? How did you handle it?