There's a phenomenon that I've experienced in which I receive unwanted attention. I can explain with two examples.

I'm at a new friend's house among a small group. I'm talking to the hosts in an introductory manner. We get to talking about family and siblings. Do you have any siblings? No. And we move forward. I am an only child.

Of course I am not an only child, nor do I have a sibling. I didn't want to bring them down; it wasn't the right time, or place. Should I have told the truth? Would that have been so terrible? I just wanted to blend in. It was so much easier not to.

I'm at a funeral with a lot of people from my past. Everyone is coming over to say hello and I begin to feel like a secondary attraction. I pay my respects to the widower and he very sincerely asks how I am doing. 

I don't want to be drawing attention at a funeral. And may I say this was long before the wheelchair. I can only imagine the eyeballs as I roll out of a van at the next wedding, funeral, whatever.