It was almost overwhelming. Regardless of the motive, the move placed the family in an area that has largely respected their privacy for more than three decades and let them live as ordinary people unburdened by stigma. They just quietly tried to be a part of the community. I think people respected them for that. The nice thing is, they let you live your life in these parts.
People know plenty from personal experience about families having black sheep sometimes.
They know you can't hold that against someone. Still, if kindness predominated, snubs and cruelty lurked close. To this day, Cathy remains leery, bracing herself at parties for the awkward moment or odd comment that might come her way when people learn she's an Oswald. Among the members of her family, she bears the most visible scars. Her classmates wheeled.