br metro Come & Enjoy the Fun atdET's... Knowing When from page 16 Monday, May 12014 at 7:30 p.m. in the beautiful Planterra Conservatory 7315 Drake Road, Farmington Hills Tilo-yli keatro witk Ex tll bersrertsrl. rise Entertainment S pebal Guest Actors, Sur rise and a hilarious "Old Jews Telling Jokes" Preview 01411V., Live, 9( SciteAt-Auutiorks, A Private Yacht for a week in the Caribbean A Behind the Scenes Tour by Les, Ashley or Seth of "Hardcore Pawn" -Jewelry and gift certificates from your favorite vendors + great items in every price range - OUR ONLINE AUCTION IS OPEN NOW AT WWWJETTHEATRE.ORG To Order Tickets Call 248.788.2900 SUPPORTER $100 (1 Ticket), SPONSOR $250 (2 Tickets), PATRON $500 (2 Tickets), BENEFACTOR $1,000 (4 Tickets) Can't make it? Your gift of any amount will be appreciated! Mail to JET at 6600 West Maple Rd., West Bloomfield, MI 48322 JET, a professional theatre company, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization 1917170 Hidden Treasure Discovered' in Oakland County Elegant estate jewelry and beautiful one-of-a-kind pieces can be yours for less than you would imagine Send your college student news from home! College kids love news from home - the JN will help keep them in touch with everything that is happening while they are away! Call us today and we'll take care of the rest ESBuyers ri aAbbms 35700 Woodward Ave. • Between 14 Mile & Lincoln • Birmingham 2+8-6+4-850 18 May 15 • 2014 JN 800.875.6621 SPECIAL COLLEGE PRICING $20 per year 10 months • In-state only • Call for out of state special rates Visit theJEWISHNEWS.con was much more to the story, as Luxenberg learned during his research. Beth's sister, Annie Cohen, who had severe physical and mental health problems, was not institu- tionalized as a toddler but at the age of 21, when Beth was 23. Annie went to the Wayne County General Hospital in Westland, a psychiatric hospital generally known as Eloise. She lived in Eloise for 30 years before she died in 1972 in a nursing home. Beth had spent most of her life keeping Annie's existence a secret. She never told her children or her friends about her sister, and may even have kept the secret from her husband. Luxenberg started to uncover the truth after Beth died in 1999. While settling Beth's affairs, Luxenberg's brother, Jeff, came across a solicita- tion from Hebrew Memorial Park offering to plant flowers on three family graves: those of Beth's father and mother and someone named Annie whom he had never heard of. Could this be the mysterious sister? The book juxtaposes Annie's story with the story of Luxenberg's efforts to ferret out the specifics so many years later. It also includes detailed descriptions of the treat- ment of mental illnesses in the first half of the 20th century. Families keep secrets for a vari- ety of reasons, said Sedler, who is asked to speak on the topic often by local groups. Sometimes the secret is just too painful to talk about. Sometimes, as in the case of Annie Cohen, it's because of something viewed as shameful. Beth's decision to hide the reality of her sister was "totally under- standable in the context of the time:' Sedler said. Families were ashamed to talk about relatives with mental illness. Beth felt people would judge her harshly because of her sister's problems, and thought it might diminish her romantic opportunities. When her sister was hospitalized, she felt the best course was simply not to acknowledge her existence. She never visited Annie at Eloise. Today things are different, Sedler said. "Every family is different, but there is much more awareness and many more support services for people who have challenges:' she said. "There's a different level of acceptance today, and I think fami- lies are far more likely to reach out for help:' ❑