Everybody has a secret or two they wouldn’t want anyone else to know. Sometimes it’s something as innocuous as a weird habit you do at home. Other times, it’s something dark that might tear your family apart if they knew.
In fact, your family probably has a lot of secrets you aren’t supposed to know. But like many of us, these Redditors actually do know the secrets — and are willing to tell them to perfect strangers.
CW for abuse, suicide.
“My paternal grandmother hated my mother.” – haroldtitus425
“One day she called my mom and asked her to come over and pick up a casserole my grandma had made for us. When she got there, my grandmother had shot herself and left a note saying (among other things) that she wanted my mom to find her that way.”
“She was, shall we say, a [expletive] up lady and one of the meanest people I’ve ever known.”
“My mom didn’t want people to know b/c she didn’t want that kind of attention. My dad didn’t want people to know b/c he didn’t want to give my grandma any level of satisfaction. So, it’s just me, them and maybe one other person who knows. Everyone else thinks she was just an old lady who was depressed about her recently deceased husband.”
“My great-grandpa isn’t related to us.” – TanichcaF
“[Great-grandmother] had been [expletive] by a travelling salesman and was pregnant, her family kicked her out. Great-grandpa couldn’t have kids due to torture in a Japanese prison camp during WWII.”
“He married her and raised my grandma as his own.”
“My great-grandma told me when she had dementia and forgot it was a secret. Great-Grandpa is 102 now and is the bedrock of our family. He’s not blood but he’s our family and he always will be.”
Family is family, no matter how much DNA you share.
“My welsh great-grandmother had passage booked on the Titanic in 1912. She ended up not going because she ‘fell ill.'” – sassy_steph_
“Turns out it was actually an out-of-wedlock pregnancy that gave her such bad morning sickness, she couldn’t go. She lost the baby. She came the following year in 1913 and met my great-grandfather. She only told my mom (who she helped raise during the summers) who then told me.”
“I had an uncle who was a railroad engineer and worked the Terre Haute, Indiana to Danville, Illinois line.” – mildlysceptical22
“Never took a day off from his one day there, one day back route. At his funeral, (I was a kid and didn’t go) a strange woman came into the funeral home with some older children.”
“No one knew who she was and finally my grandma introduced herself to the woman and asked who she was.”
“The woman said, ‘I’m Mrs.so and so I’m here for my husband’s funeral.’ Turns out my uncle had two families, one in Terre Haute and one in Danville. I didn’t find out about this until I was an adult. My mom, grandma, aunt and sister kept this a secret for decades.”
“My grandma was raised in a Catholic orphanage under the pretext that she lost both her parents and siblings during the Spanish Influenza.” – Human_Commercial_406
“Turns out her and her dad survived, but her dad didn’t want to take care of her so he left her at an orphanage in Brooklyn and moved to Europe and started a new family.”
“This is pretty mild, but a part of my mom’s side is very, very convinced they’re Irish. In all the American, ‘kiss me I’m Irish’ ways.”
“My grandparents took a trip there. They spent a lot of time at a local pub, getting to know Irish singers and poets, my cousins have very Irish names, etc. etc. etc..”
“I took a few ancestry tests to nail down the rest of my mom’s side, not a single percent Irish in any of them.”
“The family name, common in Irish-Americans, is actually a Swiss surname that got translated at some point, according to the genealogy trace I also had done. My now deceased grandparents want their ashes spread into the Irish sea and my mom and her siblings are planning a big trip to do it. I’m taking the secret to my grave.”
“My dad killed a guy and never told us. I found out on Google one day.” – ERC69
The user expanded on the story, saying, “I was already drunk and Googling him to see if I could find any dirt on him. He’s not a cool guy. This was a goldmine.” They also said that “it was a drunk driving accident.” Wow.
“My mother had an affair on my father that he doesn’t know about way before he had an affair on her that blew up the family.” – Alternative_Shame_73
It almost sounds like the dad should know at this point.
“When my grandmother died, we found out she was married before my grandfather and had 4 kids.” – PersonMcNugget
“Her and that husband split up and just dumped the kids in an orphanage. Then she remarried later, had my dad and my aunt and just never mentioned the other kids at all.”
“My Great grandmother had a step son the same age as her.” – Secure-Particular286
“He was the biological father of one of my great uncles. My cousins don’t know. Always heard my Great uncle knew and had animosity towards my grandad because of it.”
“Grandma and Grandpa did love each other and were married but weren’t ‘together.'” – Eas_Mackenzie
“Grandma was gay and grandpa was her best friend. She wanted kids so they had kids but she had her love, ‘Auntie Doreen’ we called her. Grandpa was free to do whatever he wanted and to our knowledge never had a dedicated partner besides my grandmother.
“Just the times, glad they could make it work for them.”
“Having no solid proof that my niece has to be the daughter of a very famous musical artist very active today.” – Tomphiii
“Knowing my sister in law is a huge fan of his and that she and my little brother were both cheating on each other during that time. Looking at my niece she looks exactly like the person I’m talking about.”
“Same eyes, chin, lips, and smile, crooked teeth, same jaw, and hair too.”
“Looks nothing like my brother at all. I’m convinced this person is her father especially when you put pictures of them side by side.”
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The worst part is not knowing who the singer is.
“That my dad smokes.” – MDF87
“I keep catching him… no idea how my mum doesn’t know since we all live in the same house!”
I guess not every secret is dark or life-altering. Still, not a very fun secret to have to keep.
“My aunt married her step brother (who were raised together) to piss off my grandma.” – AutoimmuneToYou
“My cousins have gone to great lengths to bury this info on ancestry so her kids won’t find out.”
At least they aren’t blood related…
“My great grandmother’s famous pecan pie recipe is the one on the Karo bottle.” – justcougit
“I was gifted it when she died bc i went to school for baking. I noticed while making it BECAUSE IT’S ON THE BOTTLE!! I will tell no one. Maybe I told my sister though haha!”
