No one really knew her...

No one really knew her...

My mom's best friend from high school died back in July. Mom has since been helping her mother clear out her house by going through things to see what can be sold and what can be donated or just plain thrown away.
Mom was over there yesterday and apologized that she wasn't there the day before to help clean out a large file cabinet. The friend's mother said she was actually happy that no one was there. She refused to say what she found in the file cabinet but based on those findings, she has decided that she never really knew her daughter at all. She was thankful that her granddaughters weren't there while she read through these things and she took them home and burned them so no one would read them.
I couldn't imagine what could be so horrible. My mom had assumed the file cabinets held manuscripts of novels that were started and never finished. What was in there? Journals that recorded horrible truths? Erotic stories?
After her death, we found out a lot of things we didn't know. She had had a long running affair with a married man who later either died or went back to his wife. We'll never know because she told us they had a normal, lovely romance before he died of cancer. There were other things but I just realized today that this woman lived for 65 years, had two children but no one ever really knew her. What a frightening thought. Will I die without anyone really knowing me? The real me?
Is it possible for a person to really know another person? I suppose there are parts of us that no one could possible know but to hide your real self from everyone for 65 years is a mind blowing thought.