Stories We Tell Page #8

this some more.

It's been interesting talking

to my brother, Johnny, about it.

We're both tremendously afraid

of my dad finding out.

It would destroy him, I think,

so I'm quite resolved to not let him

know about our conversation.

However, I have been thinking

that I'd really love to know for myself.

I'm not sure why,

but it feels like an odd question

to not have answered

once it's been raised.

Now was the moment when Sarah

suggested that a DNA test

would settle the matter

once and for all.

Harry resisted

and said he'd like to think it over.

He was worried what effect

it would have on Michael

and his family

if it turned out that Harry

was the father,

and he wasn't too sure

how he would feel

if Michael turned out

to be the sperm donor.

To save all hurt,

why not leave things as they are?

Dad, can you take

that line back again?

Yeah.

To save all hurt,

why not leave things as they are?

The weekend you came

to do the DNA test,

you walked in the door,

and it was kind of like,

"Well, let's put the spit

on the stick first

"and get it over with. "

I think it was one

of the first things we did.

You came in, you sat down,

get out the stick, you both spit.

You put 'em in,

and so we got that

out of the way

with lots of laughter.

And then I think you were

staying in our office,

and Cathy had given Harry

a picture of herself with a big smile,

and I had put it on his desk.

And you look at the picture,

and you said,

"Oh, my God,

we've got the same mouth!"

So I ran in,

and I looked at the picture,

and I looked at your smile,

and I looked at Cathy's,

and I thought,

"You know, this is gonna work.

"This is the same family. "

On Monday,

January the 22nd, 2007,

Sarah's life changed forever.

She opened the registered letter

and read the results.

It recorded that Harry Gulkin

was Sarah Polley's biological father,

and that the test results

were 99% certain.

99.97% sure.

That was the level of probability.

I won't even try to guess

what her thoughts were

as she digested

that stunning discovery.

28 years of sitting on something

like that is a long time,

and having the ability

to know it indeed is true

was just sheer delight.

Exuberance.

"It's 99.9997 sure.

I'm her father. Yay. "

I use the expression

"the honeymoon period. "

Nothing but,

"Isn't life wonderful?"

A long time coming.

Hi, Sarah.

I want to get up to Toronto

as soon as feasible

during one

of the next few weekends

so that I can introduce

Cathy to her kid sister,

that is, if you're up for it.

It is understood

that all of this will be done

with the understanding that the news

is not for general consumption.

As for me,

my heart is dancing.

Sarah, for me, you're the bearer

and the incarnation of pure joy.

Love, Harry/Daddy.

I opened the door.

You were at the door.

And you were wearing

the identical sweatshirt

I was wearing.

I have yet to see anyone else

wear that sweatshirt.

And then, of course,

you smiled,

and I saw

the identical gummy grin that I have

that I haven't seen

on very many people, either.

I went, "Yeah, we share DNA,

that's for sure. "

We express ourselves, I think,

in a really similar way.

We wave our arms around,

we giggle a lot,

and then we realized

that we could talk our heads off

for hours and hours

and hours and hours

and never run out

of things to say.

Hi, Harry.

Still thinking about the weekend.

It was so great to meet Cathy

and spend some time with you.

I think our Passover plans

are all in order.

First time I've ever written that.

I'm having a strange onslaught of guilt

about my dad in all this.

Sorting it through, but it's

not at all easy or uncomplicated,

as you warned.

I'm sure time will make things

clearer and easier.

Looking forward

to seeing you again soon.

Nothing could change

about her love for Michael

or for those

who had suddenly become

half-sisters and half-brothers,

but now she had

an entire new half-family to get to know.

Soon after reading

that registered letter,

Sarah tells the news

to her brothers and sisters,

and the question whether

I should be told is now raised.

It seems that only Mark

felt I could handle it,

but the consensus was

that there really was

no need to risk upsetting me,

and life could continue smoothly

with me in ignorance.

Can you talk about the impact

that this news

had on our family?

I don't get the sense

that much changed in our family.

Oh, except that we all got divorced.

Forgot about that.

Whoops.

Except all three daughters

got divorced.

Yep. Good point.

Good point.

Yeah. God, I guess we all...

We all had

interesting reactions to it.

I feel like Mark

worked the other way.

He worked to solidify

the family he had,

and we three daughters

hightailed it.

So, other than that, nothing.

It does sort of make you

alter the way

that you look at your relationship.

A truth like that that opens up

kind of begets other truths,

and when you discover

truths like that,

how you think about truths

within that are concealed.

I suppose,

as much as anything,

when you hear

about someone doing that

and breaking the rules,

it breaks a kind of taboo,

and it makes you think,

"We're all struggling

with the same kinds of problems,

"and look at the mess she got into

"trying to look

like everything was okay. "

It seemed to me

like it was difficult for Mark.

I think the biggest thing

with him I got

was that he was

disappointed in Mom.

Did you get that?

I think that was it.

He was disappointed

and sort of surprised,

and I guess I wasn't.

I think the main thing that I felt

after hearing

the news about Harry

was my feeling critical of Mom

and thinking

how she didn't just have an affair.

She was reckless, presumably,

in terms of birth control,

and ends up having a baby.

To think how crazy it was of her

to be that out of control,

it's a pretty scary scenario,

the idea of having a kid

that belongs to someone else

biologically,

and you have to try

to carry on your life,

hiding that fact from the people

you're closest to.

The complexity of lying about it,

and the stress that that would put

on your life is a bit terrifying.

It's a real lesson about birth control

when you're having affairs,

if nothing else.

Thanks a lot.

And then we'd all be better off.

It's like

This Is a Wonderful Life.

Oh, no, it was the reverse,

wasn't it?

It's the middle of September,

and Sarah went to Montreal

for the shoot of Mr. Nobody.

Little time in all that to consider

whether she should tell me

of the DNA test.

Sarah is on set shooting a scene

as a young Neanderthal woman.

I often have this dream.

Some prehistoric time.

I can hear you screaming.

I chase the bear,

and you're not afraid anymore.

Sarah is sitting around

in her makeup and prosthetic

Neanderthal forehead

when she gets a phone call

from a reporter in Toronto.

He tells her

that he's just heard the story

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