In Outlaws Locke told a story to Sawyer about his sister who fell off a jungle gym and "came back" as a dog. But in Deux Ex Machina we found out that he was an orphan and didn't know his mother. I couldn't think why Locke would make this lie up unless he wanted to get sympathy and understanding from Sawyer to get him on his side in later episodes

I think Locke meant his foster sister, not necessarily his real sister.

Correct, that story was about his foster mother and sister.

Welcome to the fuselage.

FOSTER Mother, blood sister. And evidently he also had a brother too, as he said in DEM.

Flora, how do we know they are blood siblings?

Because he only said "Sister" when speaking of Jeannie. When he mentioned his foster mother, he first said "Mother" then corrected himself and said "Foster Mother". He did not make that distinction with his sister, therefore (at the time of that episode), the board members here (viva la 'lage!) concluded that his sister was by blood and the foster mother was a foster mother. Though with the admission that he has a brother in DEM, could we also conclude that Emily had at least three children she gave up for adoption? Jeannie died in childhood, the brother is a mystery (though Locke mentioned him in the present tense, so assumably he's still alive and fine), then Locke... Sooooo...I wonder, was the brother not a match for the kidney, did Emily not know how to find him, or was John Locke the only son of Cooper and therefore the only possible match?

Thanks for the clarification, Flora. We still don't really know for sure though. Huh, do we ever know anything definitively around here ;)? I could see a child getting closer to another child (sibling) than an adult (foster parent), so maybe that's why he would make no distinction. Even though my step-father adopted me, I refer to him as my step-father, but my half siblings are my siblings: I never ever say different. Maybe a bad analogy, but I've got nothing else to go on here!

Not necessarily a bad analogy, pearknot.* My step-mother has been married to my dad since I was 11.* My real mother died when I was 14.* I refer to my step-mom as my mom and my real mom as my real mom.* And I refer to all my step-siblings as my brothers and sisters.*

I think it's quite possible that Jeannie was another foster child and Locke had gotten close enough to her to think of her as a sister, or maybe she was his foster mom's real child.*

It doesn't make sense that he has siblings within the context of DEM to me.* I don't remember what he said about his brother.* Can someone refresh my memory?* The way his mother spoke about his conception and subsequently being given up, just seemed weird if he also has siblings.*

Interesting, Biogal. I guess it is apparent what this says about me and my relationship with my stepmother and stepbrothers:

My mom died when I was 17, and my dad remarried about a year after that. I call my stepmother my stepmother, and my stepbrothers my brothers.

It doesn't make sense that he has siblings within the context of DEM to me.* I don't remember what he said about his brother.* Can someone refresh my memory?* The way his mother spoke about his conception and subsequently being given up, just seemed weird if he also has siblings.*


But Emily *is* weird! *Within the context of DEM, it would seem logical that Locke's brother would have had a different father and therefore wouldn't be a match.

See, I think that's a pretty good indication that Jeannie wasn't necessarily Locke's blood sister.* A lot of that stuff varies with the child, depending on when the parents got married and other factors.* With my mom, she always treated me the same as her own kids and, now, she's been married to my dad longer than my real mother was in my life.* I think the fact that my real mother died after my mom was already in my life was a contributing factor as well.*

But Emily *is* weird! Within the context of DEM, it would seem logical that Locke's brother would have had a different father and therefore wouldn't be a match.

Well, yes, that's true. I guess I'm more curious about whether or not Jeannie was his real sister, and if so, why was she placed in a foster home with Locke, but his brother wasn't? Or maybe he was?

My point exactly, Etienne! *My brother-in-law calls all of his foster siblings his siblings. *It took me awhile to realize that only one of them is his actual brother. *I think the foster kids were in and out of their lives but kept in touch. *Even so, he calls them his brothers and sisters, and their kids are his nieces and nephews. *

And my husband calls his best friend, his brother. It took me a while after I met him to realize that he didn't actually have a blood brother.

These are links to "Outlaws" threads that talked of Locke's foster mom-sister-monkey bars-golden retriever story. Since the story was fresher in our minds back then, it might be a good idea to go back and see what our "fresh thoughts" were the day after the episode aired.

http://www.thefuselage.com/threaded/index.php?topic=7118.0
http://www.thefuselage.com/threaded/index.php?topic=7065.0

Thanks, I will do that. Because this conversation has got me thinking about it overtime, now.