Katie Ring
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
Luckily, Ted didn't try and hurt Julia that night.
But even with these signs that something was clearly wrong, his family didn't get him any help.
In fact, things only got less stable for him over time.
In 1951, when Ted was just four, he and Louise, who was still pretending to be his sister, left Philadelphia and moved to Washington State.
It was supposed to be a fresh start, but it was a confusing adjustment for Ted.
Remember, he still thought his grandparents were his biological parents.
To him, it seemed like his older sister was separating him from his mom and dad.
This was just another moment of perceived betrayal that he'd remember for the rest of his life.
And things only got more confusing from there.
Shortly after moving, Louise met a guy named Johnny Bundy at church, but it wasn't long before things got serious.
They got married after just a few months of dating, and Johnny even adopted Ted.
But Ted never really accepted Johnny as his father.
He thought he was unintelligent and resented him for not being able to provide him with the expensive clothes and items that he wanted.
Friends even recall Ted provoking Johnny and Johnny sometimes responding with violence.
They looked like a happy family on the outside, but Ted was just as miserable as he'd been in Philly.
And things only got worse when Ted found his birth certificate one day.
That's when he learned the truth, that his birth father had abandoned him, and his older sister was actually his mom.
As you'd expect, it turned his world upside down.
Ted became consumed by his bitterness.
He felt rejected and insecure.