What family secret was finally spilled in your family? When my paternal grandfather died, the federal government reached out to do a state funeral. He'd been career Army and a colonel, so we didn't question it. Then the funeral came, and they went all out: huge procession, people showing up to honor, really big names like heads of departments, senators, retired senators, people from the CIA and State Department. It was nuts, and we were all super confused. Turns out, he was a key dude in the Office of Special Investigation during World War II. And when the OSI splintered into the CIA and Secret Service, he went the Secret Service route. He wasn't on White House detail but instead worked in a covert office that dealt with counterfeiting and currency. He went blind when I was a toddler and retired from the Army. For whatever reason, he told no one about all his covert work with the OSI, Secret Service, and the only person who knew, my grandmother, was sworn to secrecy and never told anyone. My father grew up thinking he was just a colonel working on base. Only after his death were we given all sorts of cool publications by him, lectures given by him, and all kinds of things from various things he did and was known for. All I knew him as was a blind old man who was perpetually smoking, drinking, and being a grumpy man. Turns out, he was a bad MF, and all but none of us knew."

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