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“My Uncle Didn’t Die In A Car Accident”: 30 Horror Movie-Worthy Family Secrets
Interview
Keeping a secret is hard. But revealing it might also not be easy, especially if it’s related to the people you love. That might be one of the reasons why many people keep certain things to themselves for years or only share them anonymously if they need the load lifted off their shoulders.
A bunch of ‘Ask Reddit’ community members have recently lifted such a load, after one user asked them to share the darkest family secrets they could never tell anyone. Their stories ranged from upsetting to absolutely shocking and everything in between, with many being worthy of a horror movie scenario, but if you’re brave enough to see what they entailed, you can find them on the list below. Just bear in mind that some of them are seriously disturbing and browse them at your own risk.
Below, you will find not only the secrets but also Bored Panda’s interviews with the OP themselves, as well as with Jennifer Guttman, PsyD, a psychologist and author of Beyond Happiness, who was kind enough to answer a few of our questions.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
My last name shouldn't be my last name. My great grandfather got it off a tombstone while on the run from the law. My great grandma found out she wasn't legally married after 30 yrs and 5 sons. She ended up in some mental institution in New Orleans and got a lobotomy over it.
She raised me till her death and she was an amazing woman that didn't deserve any of it. She was from the south but studied medicine and wasn't allowed to practice so she ended up teaching black kids to read to p**s off her father. She was one of the first women to vote and have a drivers license in Georgia.
An all around amazing woman that I'm lucky to have been around. She was born in 1899, RIP Irene.
Bay Bo 10 months ago
A lobotomy?!?! N she still did all those amazing things?? What a powerful woman 💞💞
Lexi 10 months ago
Not all lobotomy destroy the person, a very rare, and I do mean very rare amount can assist a person. I have only read of one case where the person was able to live a full life doing everyday things such as having a decent job, driving a car, that sort of thing.
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RELATED:
#2
The darkest family secret used to be that grandma [ended] two husbands. But since she's died and out of reach of the law, I'm telling everyone lmao. My grandma was a bad a*s and was willing to do whatever it took to protect her children. Those guys chose the wrong woman when hunting for children to harm.
Joshua David 10 months ago
Good for her. I also hope she ended up being able to choose more wisely after a while.
AsylumWalker 10 months ago
I hope we stop blaming women for having bad partners
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Deborah 10 months ago
killed. It's a real word. Ended. Unalived. How much of this is going to be censored?
Tom Brincefield 10 months ago
The algorithm is going to change whatever words it's required to in order for the articles to be available in the largest number of nations. If you don't like it, go to a different website and read the articles they post.
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Svenne O'Lotta 4 months ago
You can't understand how two men are child predators? You think this is a rare thing?
Load More Replies... #3
I tell people this all the time, but it's considered pretty taboo by a lot of my family.
My MIL is married to a very religious man, who is very judgmental/outspoken about what's right/wrong.
He's very active in his church (which he constantly reminds people that his father 'built', whatever that means) and will freely remind you that taking the lord's name in vain, or living together before marriage is your free ticket to hell.
The thing is, he's a serial adulterer. He was married to his first wife for over 20 years, and cheated on her almost the entire time.
In fact, he had a long-running affair with my MIL when she was in her 40's. She broke it off because he refused to leave his wife.
When his first wife died, he was knocking on my MIL's door looking for "companionship" before the wife was even buried.
We know of at least two other women with whom he carried on for multiple years.
Apparently in his mind, swearing and failing to go to church every week are mortal sins, but that stuff about adultery was only a suggestion.
I'm always sure to point this out to the young people in my family whenever he drops his holier-than-thou judgements on their lifestyle.
"Say what you will. It's true that I haven't set foot in a church since my wedding 20 years ago. But since then, I never slept with anyone but my wife in that time, either." -Me, at Christmas.
Beak Hookage 10 months ago
Religion is unfortunately a magnet for hypocrites and a******s because they can hide all their sins behind a nice shiny façade of "but I'm a good Christian!"
Antihaarbalsnoepje 10 months ago
Sadly, some christians are like that indeed. Note that Jesus Himself was already quite fed up with religious hypocrites. His angry speech is in Matthew 23, for those who are interested.
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Chris the Bobcat 10 months ago
In my experience, the "holiest" of christians are always the most vile of people. See the zeal with which they condemn anyone not like them.
Kalevra 10 months ago
Fascinating how its always the "Devout" religious that do the most harm.
Catlady6000 10 months ago
Just cause you claim to be doesn't mean you are. The ones claiming to be devout are usually the "nice" guys
Load More Replies... Amanda Reinstatler 10 months ago
So funny listening to people decree what parts of the bible matter, and what parts don't. Like all the stupid f*****g MAGA lunatics.
Pamela Blue 9 months ago
It's very sad that this man decided that adultery wasn't a sin - for him. I guess he'll just have to explain that one to God when his time comes.
Robert Beveridge 10 months ago
I know this is far from the point, but I really got stuck on OP not seeming to know the meaning of the word "built"...
Catlady6000 10 months ago (edited)
He meant, whatever his FIL meant by that
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Ginger ninja 4 weeks ago
Always the religious folk who are the biggest hypocrites. And MIL is almost as bad for knowingly carrying on with a married man
Talking to Bored Panda about the thread, the OP shared that they wanted to ask a question that they wouldn’t necessarily expect many responses to. But quite a few people shared their stories, in many cases, opening a can of worms that few people could have seen coming.
“I had not expected to see some responses that were a bit more dark, to say the least,” the redditor said. They added that their family, too, is not immune to secrets, but they’d rather keep them to themselves. Wondering why many people didn’t refrain from sharing the darkest secrets of their kin, the OP speculated that it was likely the anonymity that Reddit provides that made it easier for netizens to open up.
#4
My great grandfather was well known in town 80 years ago for trying to publicly [end] himself a bunch of times before finally succeeding, I didn’t know until I was 20 and found his obituary. I’m named after him and as a kid my pediatrician, who was really old, always asked about my mental health and encouraged me to talk to a therapist about any dark thoughts I may have. I think the doctor remembered my great grandfathers story and wanted to make sure I didn’t go that way.
Luke Branwen 10 months ago
It's dark, but reminded me of The Simpsons. "Oh, Moe and his annual suicide attempt."
EJN 10 months ago
Your great-grandfather may have had a chronic depression that came and went periodically. Back then there were no medications to stabilize the depression. As someone who has lived with depression most of my life, I am so sad that your great-grandfather had to live with it until he ended it. I can understand why he chose to leave, but I wish he had had a way to recover.
#5
The IRA gave my granddad a full military funeral. Nobody alive has any idea why.
Victor Botha 10 months ago
And bored panda chooses a photo of an American funeral 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
Dave In MD 10 months ago
The picture is AI. That is not a American military uniform.
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Phil Green 10 months ago
With reference to the attached photo; the IRA usually turned up, masked and disguised and fired a volley over the coffin. It would have been very remarkable to have the US Marines pitch up.
Jennifer Guttman, PsyD, seconded the idea that anonymity makes it easier for some people to open up or reveal secrets. “It allows them to distance themselves from the information they’ve been keeping secret. It’s the first step in opening up. It allows them to say or write it even if they aren’t taking responsibility. That’s a big step for some people. Whether it’s sharing the information openly or anonymously, getting the secret out is better for a person’s overall wellbeing.”
#6
Don't think it matters here in the United States but my Great Grandfather, from Japan, was a Buraku (a social caste seen as unclean and impure in Japan) and he had to get fake family history papers and IDs in order to marry my great grandmother. He got the fake papers and IDs from a friend who may or may not have ties to the Yakuza, not really sure, but that's how the story was told to me by my father.
B 10 months ago
I had to look up Baraku, basically they did occupations associated with death, butcher, grave digger , tanner. But were discriminated against. That's just wild, people needed there services but treated them that way
#7
My great grandfather would smuggle in alcohol from Canada during prohibition. It was also illegal for native Americans to drink in local bars. But he would invite them in and claim they weren't native Americans but they were from Mexico so they could drink with him. He also had a brother who ran away and joined the circus and eventually became a Hollywood prop man.
I also had a great Uncle that [hurt] his wife so badly she [ended] him. She was one of the first women to win the court case using the battered spouse defense.
A few generations back part of my family were LDS polygamists . Fortunately I'm not directly descended from them.
It's nuts all the dirt you find when doing genealogy!
Tom Brincefield 10 months ago
It's actually better than most. At least the post mentions alcohol and drinking work someone.
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Nikki Gross 10 months ago
I unfortunately know from experience, be careful when you shake the family tree, because you don't know what may fall out.
#8
No one knows where my uncle came from.
So my grandfather was a very high-ranking policeman, but also a raging a*****e. My nana unfortunately had a stillborn baby, and my very Catholic grandfather was a right d**k about her grief. He refused to acknowledge the baby as having any right to be buried in the family cemetery as it was not baptized. Nana suffered ernomously in her grief, and Grandad was sick of it.
So, one day he comes home with a newborn, told Nana they had adopted him and she could stop crying now.
And that was my uncle.
He came with zero paperwork. No birth certificate, no adoption papers, nothing.
Our best guess is that he was the baby of an incarcerated woman, but as both grandparents have passed away now, we really don't know for sure. I personally don't care about the legacy of an angry and abusive man, but the rest of the family keep it under tight wraps so that his service history with the police won't be tarnished over the fact that we're pretty sure he stole a baby.
Huddo's sister 10 months ago
I wonder which country this was in? Australia and Ireland (and probably other countries) dealt with girls/women pregnant 'out of wedlock' for a long period by making them give up their babies for adoption. In some cases they told the mothers the baby was stillborn. Along with Aboriginal women in Australia whose babies were taken regardless of marital status, this is known as the stolen generation. Many times it is hard to find any documentation of where the babies came from and the adoptions were what is now referred to as 'closed' so children had no right to find out who their biological mothers were. The laws have since changed and closed adoption is no longer allowed, but there are still many people who have no knowledge of their biological family. A friend of mine only found out at 60 who her biological mother was, when her actual birth date was, and that she has a twin brother. She has since had contact with some of the family but her biological mother has died.
Catlady6000 10 months ago
Baby napping was a major thing with shady orphanages in the U.S. as well. It's how Joan Crawford got her children
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BarfyCat 10 months ago
Wow. My family's tale is almost the reverse. It was the policeman/dad who went wild with grief, stole the baby's body from the hospital and buried it god-knows-where. Never told his wife where the baby was buried, and she wasn't going to ask due to him being an abusive a-hole.
Nicole Weymann 10 months ago
...or even any of their kids, or nana's/gramps's siblings. It's not impossible that OP's own mother/father was already old enough to witness stuff and make connections.
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Catlady6000 10 months ago
Post partum and grief, stress of an abusive partner adds up to at least some mental illness. She may have actually thought it was her baby
Load More Replies...Discussing the effect keeping secrets from family members can have on a person and their relationships, the expert noted that such secrecy can make family relationships feel less genuine and more guarded.
“This can lead to increasing feelings of tension or awkwardness and eventually reduce communication,” she told Bored Panda.
As for keeping secrets about the family and not from it, Guttman noted that it can make the secret keeper feel isolated, depressed, and anxious.
#9
Not exactly dark, but I found out my father wrote p**n novels under a pen name to make ends meet when I was a baby. I've been trying to find one ever since.
Luke Branwen 10 months ago
So... you can make ends meet by writing p0rn...? Asking for a friend
Catlady6000 10 months ago (edited)
It doesn't even have to be good porn. Or well written. Cough "50 Shades of grey" cough, gag
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Chippy Chap 10 months ago
There is a really funny podcast called "My Dad Wrote a Porno". This guy finds the script for a porno his dad wrote in like the 70s and they read it on the podcast. It's crazy and funny!
ShadySlytherin 10 months ago
Oh, he did not write Belinda Blinked in the 70s, Rocky wrote this mess within the past 10ish years, in the shed in the garden. And it's glorious
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DaisyBee 10 months ago
They’re just called “romance” novels, like the ones our grandmothers used to read or purchase from a hospital shop when in as a patient. They were filthy too!
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Marte Straatsma 4 months ago
There is this great British podcast ‘my dad wrote a poem’, and it is hilarious! You should listen to it!
#10
I had to put my dog to sleep in 2023 because she was lethargic and dehydrated, with vomiting and diarrhea, and lost the use of her back legs. I assumed - paired with her CCD - that it was time for her to go.
Three months later, I received a recall notice informing me that a batch of her prescription dog food was formulated incorrectly, causing the exact symptoms (minus the CCD) she experienced the night before I had her euthanized. I threw the notice away and never told anyone about it.
David Beaulieu 10 months ago
I'm very sorry to read this, but you did nothing wrong. You tried to make the best decision you could for your friend.
zims 10 months ago
I'd say medical malpractice lawsuit, but...sometimes it's okay just to grieve and let go.
Enuya 10 months ago
I don't see how it's the vet's fault. Seemingly problem was with the food production (badly formulated batch), not with the prescription itself?
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EJN 10 months ago
Perhaps you should contact the dog food company and SUGGEST that they make a significant donation to a charity for animals in your doggie's name... I think that would be very good for dogs and other pets plus it would remind the company of their obligation since it was their screwup that made your dog sick.
#11
I've told this story but it's still pretty f*****g dark. My great grandmother's father was a family annihilator and [ended] her mom and all 4 of her siblings when she was very young (5 or 6). While he was [attacking] everyone else she hid under the porch. Apparently he called her name looking for her for hours before finally giving up and committing [self-harm]. She was the only survivor. I didn't find this out until after she had passed away when I was in my teens.
Edit: I know it's technically my great great grandfather but f**k that and f**k him.
Ralph Vanloton 10 months ago
Just a kind attempt to coddle the crybabies.
Load More Replies... Kalevra 10 months ago
Stop censoring words. Exposure Therapy is the best way to beat triggers you f*****g cowards.
Upstaged75 10 months ago
Who are you yelling at? The computer program doing the censoring? No one at BP will ever see this or respond to it.
Load More Replies...“The secret keeper may experience somatic symptoms of distress such as headaches, insomnia, and loss of appetite,” Guttman continued, discussing how keeping secrets can influence a person’s well-being. “Keeping secrets can also lead to difficulty focusing or making decisions in other areas of the person’s life because they are distracted by the energy it’s taking to keep the secret.”
#12
My mom gave birth on the floor of her apartment. I used to think it was because it happened so fast, that's what she always said. I recently learned it was because she was in denial she was pregnant and never got any prenatal care..denied it up until the baby was literally coming out of her.
CommanderDucky-He/Him 10 months ago (edited)
Pretty sure my parents denied that my birth happened even after I was born
#13
Already been said on here, but might as well say again.
I'm half-Japanese and half American. My Japanese grandpa fought against the Chinese in WW2 (though he was forced into service despite how much he didn't want to). He saw minimal fighting and was not part of any of the Japanese atrocities (Reddit is bad at understanding that not all the Japanese soldiers back then were not barbaric).
He only told two short stories of his time in war.
1.) When Japan was leaving Shanghai during the end of the war, my grandpa lost a coin toss with his friends for the first boat out. He sat on the docks as he watched the boat with all his friends and half his company get blown up by allied bombers.
2.) Last military mission. Hiroshima was bombed. He was ordered to find survivors if any. He only said, "We were told to find survivors... We only found ash."
After the war, he became a diplomat for Japan from 1950-1998 advocating heavily for peace and being anti-war. He never told anyone, besides my grandma, about his military service. Only found out about his past when he was nearing the end of his life.
I wouldn't call this dark, but more of "Oh... Right. I have family that actually fought against the 'good guys' in WW2 technically... This is a weird feeling."
Catlady6000 10 months ago
When comes to governments, there are no "Good guys" in war
Load More Replies... John Dilligaf 10 months ago
I'm in the same boat. A branch of my family was (still is) in France. During WW2 some members collaborated with the Germans. Not just minor collaboration either. Collaboration as in actively helped hunt down Resistance members and helped round up people for the camps. One of them went on the lam after D-Day, guess he saw the writing on the wall. Disappeared. The French traced him to Spain but lost the trail there. So I have a distant relative who was wanted by both sides in WW2. By the Germans for deserting with embezzled money and by the French for collaboration and war crimes.
T T 9 months ago
Not a family member, but one of the people that worked for my dad 50 or so years ago was in the mines in Japan as a POW when one of the atomic bombs was dropped. He told my dad that the POWs went down the mine shaft for their typical day of slavery, they heard a big THUD, and then came up to see everyone gone & every building was levelled. So they quickly went back down the shaft and stayed down until others above came to bring them up.
Warren Peece 10 months ago
"not all the Japanese soldiers back then were not barbaric" Do you mean "not all the Japanese soldiers back then were barbaric".
Ginger ninja 4 weeks ago (edited)
Well seeing as he was forced into service and didnt take part in any atrocities he’s lucky he survived it all, especially number 1 (even with how devastating that must’ve been for him to watch). It might not necessarily be dark but at least OP knows his grandfather didnt approve of any of it, was forced and spent the rest of his life making up for it
T T 9 months ago
Not a family member, but one of the people that worked for my dad 50 or so years ago was in the mines in Japan as a POW when the atomic bombs were dropped. He told my dad that the POWs went down the mine shaft for their typical day of slavery, they heard a big THUD, and then came up to see everyone gone & every building was levelled. So they quickly went back down the shaft and stayed down until others above came to bring them up.
EJN 10 months ago
Every country in this world has people who fought in wars and killed others. No place is an exception. Americans sometimes forget this and deny their own participation in killing others. Many Japanese soldiers did not want to go to war but they had no choice. Some did not even have a choice to surrender after the war ended. Japanese who lived through the war years often do not wish to speak of them because of the horror. A friend's mother gathered her 3 children together and went to a cliff to jump off and end their lives... fortunately, the mother changed her mind at the last minute. They also survived the Tokyo Fire Bombing. War is never nice. It is seldom honorable either.
#14
I found out right before she died that my grandmother was r**ed by her brother when she was 16. She was pregnant and my grandfather married her and raised the child as his own.
Mimi M 10 months ago (edited)
OP: 'He was (a good man). I try to live a life he would be proud of. My grandmother went on to have another son (who was) my father and a daughter. My grandfather died in 1993 and he was the most moral caring person I've ever known. I could never live up to the example he set as far as character. I have the same birthmark on my chest as him and it always reminds me to make the right decisions when it comes to my own children and how I treat other people.'
Beak Hookage 10 months ago
Grandpa was a great guy. I hope he also beat the brother within an inch of his life.
#15
My Great Grandfather was a member of the Klan Wrecking Crew in Mississippi in the teens and twenties. He later became something called the Grand Kleagle I think.
So yeah, he was a racist a*****e.
Luke Branwen 10 months ago
If I had to guess, I'd say "Klan Wrecking Crew" was a crew that wrecks klansmen... Disappointing.
DaisyBee 10 months ago
I totally thought it was an anti KKK group. Misleading name really
Load More Replies... John Dilligaf 10 months ago
According to Wikipedia: A Kleagle is a Klan member whose main role is to recruit new members. Grand is the prefix for an officer at the state (called a Realm) level. So the Grand Kleagle would be the official responsible for recruiting throughout the whole state.
Suzanne Wiliams 10 months ago
My family lived in a small Florida town. One evening some of the Klan came to our door. Asked my father if he wanted to become a Klansman. My father said, no, thanks we are Catholic. The guy said that's okay were taking Catholics now. Another time I was driving through back roads of southern state. I was driving a semi and these klansmen were standing in the middle of the road! I asked my partner, he said, don't worry, they are just trying to get some money. I pulled up beside them. They were surprised that a woman was driving. But, the guy said they were raising money for KKK. Gave them some money and that was it!
#16
My uncle didn't die in a car accident. He [ended] his mistress and then [ended] himself by crashing his car with her body in the trunk.
Spidercat 10 months ago
Kïlled his mistress then kïlled himself...was that really so difficult BP?
Robert Beveridge 10 months ago
There's some sort of third party filter a bunch of sites are using now, presumably to prevent demonetization from complaints. FailBlog, cheezburgr, etc. all have the same stupid censoring.
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#17
My great grandpa robbed a bank and did serious time for it. This was a big secret, but it all came to light when my great uncle tried to join the FBI as a forensic accountant. Needless to say, he wasn’t hired.
Simon Chen 10 months ago
He was rejected because of his relation to a criminal? Without being a criminal himself? Is that legal? Sounds pretty unfair to me
zims 10 months ago
Security is more important than fairness. Your dad's a bank robber, who's to say he didn't teach you, or is planning something with you using your government clearance? Even just a casual dinner conversation about work could jeopardize an operation or a tactic.
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Michael Largey 10 months ago
My great uncle was a high ranking Philadelphia cop who was found to have the modern equivalent of a million dollars he couldn't account for in a Mexican bank. What happened to him? Nothing.
MagicJacket 10 months ago
"All my relatives are police marksmen, except for my grandfather, who was a bank robber. He passed away recently, surrounded by his family." -Milton Jones
Lowrider 56 9 months ago
I have a friend who was rejected by a law enforcement agency because his Mom had a DUI.
Tom De Paul 9 months ago
I think it's more likely that your friend is hiding something about himself.
Load More Replies... #18
Like so many others, during The Depression my great-grandfather lost his job. His wife and their baby son moved back in with her parents but they wouldn’t let my great-grandfather come with them. He had to sleep on benches, stand in bread lines and try to find work to send money to his wife and baby.
Why?
Turns out the great-grands had knocked boots before they were married (Irish Catholic), which ultimately resulted in the birth of the aforementioned baby. They did get married before the baby was born, but my great-grandma’s parents never forgave what they viewed as his fault. From what I understand, he was a gruff, but good man who worked a blue collar job to send his four children to expensive private schools. That baby grew up to be an engineer who helped design airplanes and the NASA space shuttle.
#19
My brother committed [self-harm]. I helped my mother and sister pick up the pieces. They both viewed me as somebody very safe and responsible and comforting, and nobody in the family has ever found out that I failed to complete my own attempt years before he did, spending four days in hospital and two months off sick.
He was always better at things than me.
Phil Green 10 months ago
When did BoredPanda start using the term "self harm" to describe "suicide"?
Tom Brincefield 10 months ago
The same time they started using all the other euphemisms for weird that will harm their advertising ratings.
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Gracie Mae 10 months ago
my heart goes out to the OP...i hope he still holds the title of being better at things. one day at a time
#20
My two older brothers are adopted, their bio mom was my dad's sister. It was common knowledge that their mom was [ended] while being a high paid escort. I had no idea they never knew this their entire life. Onetime my brother said something about wondering where his mom was because she left when he was a kid, and I was like holy moly that's not what happened. My brothers were in their 40s when they finally found out.
zims 10 months ago
Crazy how the younger sibling finds out, you'd think they'd keep this secret from all their kids.
Enuya 10 months ago
Miscommunication, maybe? Younger children heard the story from their parents. The parents thought that the adopted brothers already know the story from someone else so never mentioned this to them (i.e. for their mental health sake). Thus, brothers never learned the truth, because everyone else thought that they already know
Load More Replies... #21
After my mother found out that her husband was infertile, she decided to have 6 children with her father in law. On top of that she brainwashed her husband (my legal dad) for years into believing the diagnosis of infertility was wrong and had him raise us as his children.
Lola July 10 months ago
So your father is your half brother. And your mother is a lying conniving adultress who betrays everyone. I'm so sorry.
Nicole Weymann 10 months ago
Yeah, she IS a royal bítch. I'm somewhat surprised, however, that so far (with 9 commenters and about a day after the post was published) nobody said anything about that POS father/FIL who ever so nicely helped his son's wife out. I wonder if there was a MIL still in the picture.
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Sophia Pandia de Delphia 10 months ago (edited)
You gotta do what you gotta do! For that era and expectations, Tamar beautifully took what she was owed and threw down on him when he tried to have her killed.
Load More Replies... Beth Wheeler 10 months ago
Oh that woman is a nasty cheating W H O R E and I feel bad for the husband, his mother and the kids when they all find out that Grandpa is actually Daddy.
Jane Hower 8 months ago
So, he raised kids he thought were his but were actually his half siblings? omg
#22
The person my uncle thinks is his older sister is actually his mother but my family has kept it a secret this whole time. Most of us know except for him… She got pregnant in high school and they’ve pretended his grandmother was his mother because it’s taboo
UKDeek 10 months ago
It was very taboo years ago to have a child when young. My grandmother was my mother's sister because of this. Grandmother got pregnant when very young (16 IIRC) so her parents "adopted" my mum to save family embarrassment.
Papa 10 months ago
I would like to tentatively make a small edit. It was taboo to have a child when young and unmarried, not just young.
Load More Replies... Michael Largey 10 months ago
This is what happened to actor Jack Nicholson. He knew nothing about it until reporter mentioned it in an interview.
DaisyBee 10 months ago
Oh yeah, my mother’s “little brother” is actually her nephew. He found out by accident when he was well into his 40s as his birth “mother” basically refused to have anything to do with him and my poor grandmother - who raised him alone as her husband had died - just didn’t have it in her to break his heart. What’s messed up is he’s spent all that time since accidentally learning the truth trying to beg his real mother for attention - but she’s the closest thing to a demon so it will never happen
ILoveMySon 10 months ago
My heart aches for him. Thank goodness for Grandmother.
Load More Replies... Tom Brincefield 10 months ago
Happened in my father's family. One of my aunts was actually my cousin. But with 14 kids in the family, I could never keep track of which one.
#23
I have an uncle literally nobody talks about... I have no idea if he's even still alive.
He [made love] with a woman. She told him she had AIDS. He [ended] her.
Now, that's what he claims. The woman didn't have AIDS and he didn't contract it
I didn't even know about him until I was doing a family tree thing online. Asked my grandparents about it and they told to me to never ever speak of him again.
Brought it up with my dad a few years later. "He said he's not your real uncle, don't ask about it again" in the most chilling way I've ever heard.
#24
My mom runs an illegal ferret-breeding/rescue operation in California where they're banned
She has about 200-300 ferrets living in her home at any given point in time
Tom Brincefield 10 months ago
It's either breed them or get them fixed. If the females go into heat and aren't bred, they can die.
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Mother of Dragons 10 months ago
I did that many years ago in Northern California. Did lots of rescues. The law is ridiculously stupid.
Kit Black 10 months ago
California has the interesting theory that a spayed or nuetered ferret sold in a pet store might escape, go into the wild, and start outbreeding the black footed ferret, and taking over their territories.
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marianne eliza 10 months ago (edited)
California DFG believes they know better than 48 other states that allow pet ferrets. 48 other states that have never, ever, had a feral colony of the domestic ferret. The domestic variety of ferrets have been used by humans for hunting and as pets for a few thousand years. I know that my own carpet sharks would not have lasted 1 night outside alone. Too bold. See a big animal? Bounce up and say howdee! Besides, there's no kibble out there.
Tom Brincefield 10 months ago
In the movie Kindergarten Cop, Schwarzenegger plays an LA cop going undercover in Oregon. The cop owned a ferret, that he took with him. They didn't get said ferret from a trainer. It was Arnold's personal pet. California's laws can be flexible.
Kit Black 10 months ago
Arnold's ferret was technically registered as an actor, with himself as the ~trainer~.
Load More Replies... Laura Osborne 9 months ago
I also have no issues with the rescuing part, but breeding them too? Why? Especially if they're banned in her state - what happens to the poor animals when/if she gets caught?
Suzanne Wiliams 10 months ago
One of my good friends had a ferret. They kept him hidden in the house when someone would come over. He had a great life!!!
#25
My grandfather had two families, in the same town, at the same time. The 1930 and 1940 census were very interesting. Of course everyone in my mother's side (her father) denied it was the same person, but it was.
Robert Trebor 10 months ago
knew a family whose father over the years engendered at least three possibly more families, the first in Atlanta, the second in Mississippi, and the 3rd in Dallas. Dallas. All of the children bore the same names in each family in sequence of birth. After a while he'd get tired of it all with them and just leave. The guy I knew who was the grandson of this guy said that his dad found out about it on a business trip to Atlanta when it just happened to look his name up in the phone book and found his name again and call the number. Later on they found the family in Dallas and discovered that the father had left at approximately the same time in each family and therefore had time to do it again and possibly again.
Winnowyl Daemera 9 months ago
I've watched too much Criminal Minds recently. My first thought was of an unsub repeating the same crime over and over, trying to make it exactly like the first time. =x
Load More Replies... #26
My uncle [ended] my grandfather (his father in law) in the 60s. He had a heart attack after my uncle pushed him down the stairs. My mom was 6 and witnessed it. Everyone covered it up and said it was a fall so that my uncle didn’t keep my aunt, who was being abused, from being able to see her family. I didn’t find out until I was 19. I hugged that man more times than I can count. This has really f****d my family up.
zims 10 months ago
Why cover it up? If you get him on a murder or manslaughter charge you save the wife WITHOUT her continuing to be trapped with a homicidal abuser. At the very least "he killed my father" is a reason any divorce judge would accept while uncle is tied up in the murder trial, even if he gets off.
Leanne Rybicki 4 weeks ago
I think she was being a****d by her father that is why her husband pushed him. I Amy be wrong bu
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Hyacinth (Any pronouns) 10 months ago
The uncle is abusive to his wife, and killed his wife's dad by pushing him down the stairs. The rest of his wife's family was worried that the uncle wouldn't let his wife see them, so they all covered up the murder by saying he fell down the stairs.
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#27
My father was always very distant when I was a child and eventually my parents ended up getting divorced. I never really saw my dad again after that but it was always odd to me. My parents never fought, argued, yelled or anything. The house was always quiet, clean and we were always well off.
We eventually found out he died from word of mouth in 2020. My mom for the first time started sharing stories. Turns out he'd go completely silent sometimes, just absolutely mute. He would go to work, come home and not speak or interact with anyone in the house, I was young so I don't really remember.
I was always curious as to why he would do that because from my mom's stories it seemed to happen regularly. A few weeks ago my mom told me a story of my dad and her being at dinner with my dad's parents and how his father (my grandpa) smacked my grandmother at the dinner table and everyone just continued like it was normal. Ever since I've heard this story I've been trying to delve into my family's history but it's been very hard to find anything. My theory is that there was some very heavy [mistreatment] going on and my father probably suffered from some intense mental issues because of that.
Eastendbird 10 months ago
My Dad used to do this when he was going through his deepest depression. My mum told me, years later. He could manage to talk to my brother and me, little conversations about what we'd done at school, but he wouldn't/couldn't talk to her. She said it used to break her heart. She still stayed with him. And yes, she tried to get him to talk to a psychiatrist, but he said it was "a load of nonsense": "he keeps asking me about my childhood...as if that matters..."
MagicJacket 10 months ago
"We eventually found out he died from word of mouth in 2020." Strangest cause of death I have ever heard.
#28
My uncle bought a yacht. The previous owner had had a heart attack in the yacht. They kept his body in the freezer.
UKDeek 10 months ago
I suspect the original owner died at sea, and they put his body in the freezer until they got back to port...
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Robert Beveridge 10 months ago
Of course they did. What else are they going to do? "burial at sea" isn't a thing if you're not sanctioned by the government (and I don't know if it's ever done these days). They probably don't have a cremation oven on board, so your choices are freezing, jerkying, or picking...
Robert Beveridge 10 months ago
*pickling. I really have to use the desktop app more.
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Je souhaite 10 months ago
People die at sea quite often which is why all cruise ships have morgues
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Melinda Flick 10 months ago
As in the body was in the freezer when the boat was sold? Or they were away from land when he died and put him in the freezer until they reached land? From what I've read, cruise ships do that all the time.
#29
It’s me. My dad never told his family I existed. I was shameful, maybe he was more ashamed. After he died they found out about me and kindly asked me not to come to the funeral. I get why he never told them.
Enuya 10 months ago
Shame on them. Even if the OP really did/was something shameful, EVERY child ahould have the right to say last goodbyes to their parents and attend their funerals.
Tom De Paul 9 months ago
Am I having a stroke or is everyone in this thread purposefully obfuscating?
#30
After grandma and grandpa were long dead, my dumb cousin does an Ancestry DNA or 23 and me, figures out that his DNA doesn’t match with the other cousins who have done this (my two aunts’ kids). Someone went through the details and figured out his mom is not the child of grandpa. My aunt (who is a horrible person) proceeds to have a meltdown.
Heir of Durin 10 months ago
Was she having a meltdown because she found out her dad was not actually her birth father? If so, I’d say a meltdown is warranted…
anne sane 10 months ago
I think it means the aunts sister was really her half sister as grandma got pregnant by another man and kept it secret.
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#31
My dad stepped up to help with my uncle's kids after his passing. Uncle's oldest son needed rehab, and Dad told him he was taking him. Cousin didn't take that news very well, ran into the house, and came back out a moment later, running toward Dad. My mom - a sweet, mild, preacher's wife - realized the cousin had a knife behind his back. She ran and tackled him and got the knife away from him.
The cousin did go to rehab and has been clean for over 20 years. He's done very well for himself.
#32
I have the reversed version of this! I keep telling my family and they keep being shocked.
My great-uncle (grandfather's brother on my mom's side) traveled extensively in his youth. He first met his "friend" while tracking across Australia. He eventually relocated to Canada where hun and his "friend" bought a house together. (me and the rest of the fam are located in Europe) He lived together with his "friend" for decades until his "friend" passed of old age a couple years back. My grand-uncle will be buried with his "friend" upon his own passing.
I keep telling my family that it was not just his friend and they keep being surprised. It's so strange because being gay is not at all taboo anymore in my community. It's just something the family has repeatedly told one another from a less open-minded time I guess.
ElfVibratorGlitter 10 months ago (edited)
Guess grand-uncle wants to leave him as "just a great friend", unless he's willing to admit it, it's not your job to out him constantly.
Dawn Woolley 10 months ago
I once knew two good friends who bought a house together but slept in separate beds in the same room. They said they didn't have enough room in a three bedroom house to have a room each. We never said anything because we were very fond of them both.
#33
Not a secret but still dark. In the second world war my grandfather stole an ID-tag from a deceased Russian soldier. By doing that he condemned him to anonymity and made his family not ever know what happened to him. I do not know why he did that but it bothers me.
#34
My step grandfather was sleeping with my mother for years, she was an addict and he supplied her with pills that he stole from my great grandmother, my mother had many affairs in my lifetime, this was not an affair, to this day I cannot imagine what my mother was living with as this continued for years, it does say a lot about the power of addiction. It is believed that my grandmother knew about this situation but sweeping it under the rug was the way they dealt with everything.
I am 62 and still struggle with what I grew up in, my stepfather was [violent] also,
As a 62 year old woman I have struggled with relationships especially with men, although I’ve been married for over 40
years I still struggle with all things related to [intimacy], never put your child in a position of your soundboard, All if this gave me a very warped view of relationships….
#35
My grandfather—— whom I always knew as laid back, funny, loving, and doting—— used to get drunk and beat my grandmother. I overheard my mom say it during an argument she had with my grandmother.
He was also 17 when he started dating her (when she was 13).
I was massively angry and disappointed in him when I found out, but they seem to have had a thriving marriage anyways. I haven’t said anything cuz it’s not my place nor business, but it still taught me that people and things are not always what they seem.
tracy black 10 months ago
my mil married her husband when she was 14 he was 34
Load More Replies... #36
My grandparents were first cousins. Born rural in the 20s. Even more, my grandmother was an identical twin and the twins married brothers (their cousins). I often wonder if my mom and her cousins aren't genetically more like siblings.
I tell lots of people this though. It's got nothing to do with me so I don't have a sense of shame about it. It's an interesting shock of a conversation starter lol
Lost Panda 10 months ago
My parents are second cousins. As a kid, when I found out it was embarrassing. As an adult, I don't care, but boy when my wife found out (thanks mom) it has been ammunition in every argument since.
Huddo's sister 10 months ago (edited)
This shouldn't be something shameful. It's legal and culturally acceptable in many places though less common now compared with the past.
#37
My grandmother had a sister, who had a son. The father of this son was never known, but she always claimed it was from a Canadian soldier during the Liberation of the Netherlands. Her not being married and having a child without a father was of course really frowned upon.
She kept up this story of this Canadian untill on her death bed, there she explained it was not a Canadian but a German. (And one pretty f*****g high up the order with the SS too, not some regular soldier.)
Michele campfens 3 weeks ago
Even if consensual, the situation was that women who “ collaborated” with the Germans had their heads shaved by other Dutch people and vilified. It’s understandable why she hid it. My mum is 95 and lived through the war and explained what happened to these women. It wasn’t good. She would have done it for herself as well as the safety and future of the baby, as he would have been bullied and looked down upon.
#38
My great grandma was one of the biggest madams of the south. She did prison time, got out and changed her name.
Mike F 10 months ago
And? The depression made many people do things that they would never have done otherwise. They had to feed their kids. My maternal great grandmother was a bootlegger, big deal. It was what they had to do.
ElfVibratorGlitter 10 months ago
Oh, my take away was that great gram was a big shot. :)
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#39
My grandmother was kicked out of Ireland with her father when she was a little girl. The way she explained it, her father was labeled “too extreme for the IRA”. I laughed it off until my father and I visited Ireland during a golf vacation and approached a local historical expert to research a bit of our family history. They got wide eyes when we mentioned great-grandfather’s name and said we shouldn’t tell another soul about our relatives.
Seán Baron 10 months ago
I have an uncle who was in the IRA. No idea if he’s alive or not. Not happy about it either.
#40
My 3x great grandfather [ended] a man in a duel in the south of France shortly after the American civil war. He left France after that and that's why I'm American and not French I guess 😆
Papa 10 months ago
I was very skeptical of this, so I did a small amount of research. Apparently two adults can agree to fight legally, but only bare handed. No weapons, and it's only legal if no serious injuries result from the "duel". There are numerous other restrictions.
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Devin Schmitt 10 months ago
Where are duels still legal in the US? No, duels haven't been legal in the US since the civil war. The closest to a duel that is legal is mutual combat, but that is only legal in Texas and Washington state. It must be overseen by a police officer, so they can ensure no bystanders are hurt, along with breaking up the fight when a clear victor has emerged.
#41
My siblings and I never knew our maternal grandparents. I got curious and started doing some research on my grandfather. Found out he originally came from some money. His family came from Georgia where they made a lot of money in textiles … specifically cotton … in the 19th century. I have kept it to myself and not told any of my siblings.
tameson 10 months ago
Why didn't they tell the rest of the family? I know my family would want to know.
Upstaged75 10 months ago
Because they're embarrassed about having owned slaves.
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#42
My grandpa’s younger brother was killed by a drunk driver when he was a kid. (He was originally named after his father.)
The driver was the police chief’s son, and faced no consequences. A few nights after the accident, my great grandfather and a few of his friends went out. The next morning, that driver was found [dead], my great grandma *knew* it was her husband that had [ended] him. She was so angry about it, she scratched out her son’s name on his birth certificate and changed it because she didn’t want her son named after a [criminal].
#43
My mom was [disturbed] during her bouts of manic depression. During one of her flip outs she threw a hammer presumably at my Dad, but my 3 year old face got in the way.
Grazina Strolia 10 months ago
OK, now the censorship has gotten so bad I can't even figure out what's going on. "Disturbed"?
#44
My mom lied to everyone about being in the Marine Corps. The only people who know are me and my dad. I’ve tried to tell my sisters but they honestly don’t care to listen. For years, she participated in Veterans Day celebrations and played the sympathy card for years. She still talks to aspiring marines about her “struggles”
She was even my friend’s honorary first salute and I don’t have the heart to tell her that it was all fake.
Warren Peece 10 months ago
I assume this is in the USA? A person can only be prosecuted for stolen valor if they do it to receive money or material gain. The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that lying about having served in the military is protected speech under the First Amendment. Yeah, I know that stinks. But there it is.
Load More Replies... Namea 4 weeks ago
My FiL is like this. He was an MP but he never left the country. He likes to talk about being an elite army sniper and how he had to drink the sweat from his hat when he was in the war. The thing is the years he claims he was overseas my husband was like 6 and knows his Dad was home every day drunk during that time.
#45
I told my wife because it surfaced after my father [ended] himself but he was a recovering d**g addict and alcoholic who was decently good at hiding his pill addiction during his last relapse. He eventually got ahold of some bad mix of something that fried his brain. He had no idea who anyone was, didnt recognize his grandaughter, and decided to [end] himself 3 days after my wedding.
We only learned about his relapse because his closest friend was his supplier until he ran out while in mexico and got ahold of who knows what.
D***s are bad, mmk.
#46
I am 99% positive my great parents were in the mafia OR went into the witness protection program. There is no trace of them past my grandmother and her brother. Their names didn’t even appear in their obituaries. I can’t find anything for them OR their parents, though they were immigrants here from Italy. But there should be atleast a single trace of them. I do know that side had mafia ties, so that’s the only logical conclusion I have. My grandmother didn’t speak about them, but she was close to her brother. I just haven’t seen anything like it before. Literally not a single trace online or in any data bases.
#47
To me it's not really a big deal since it's sort of far removed but on my moms side of the family there was a lot of cousin marrying going on with her parents and grandparents generations (and I assume it goes further back). While I'm not *totally* sure whether or not my grandma and grandpa on that side of the family were related I'm *pretty* sure they were. I also assume this is why half my aunts and uncles were seriously weirdos and why I have a weird genetic blood disorder that's sort of the opposite of hemophilia.
Robert Beveridge 10 months ago
Clotting disorder is weird? Makes me wonder why I get asked before every single medical procedure where I'm getting opened up whether I have any sort of clotting disorder.
#48
My bio grandmother had I’m not sure how many kids but she was with an abusive man. She took my mom and her twin sister and abandoned the other kids with the abusive husband. Decades later one of the kids she abandoned tracked her down but my grandmother wouldn’t speak to her. So she found my mother. Her and my mom went out to my grandmothers house drunk one night beating the door down trying to talk to my grandmother. Well, this got nowhere and actually got my mother shunned from the family forever. When I found my biological family 10 years ago they couldn’t even tell my grandfather who I was because I was my mother’s child. We literally lied to my grandfather for years saying I was just a friend of the family while I was hanging out in my their house…weird s**t lol. I guess I was just grateful to be around my family whether they knew it or not lol?
#49
My mum earns 6 figures yet is a mistress for a millionaire. I’ve known for 10+ years. He regularly pays money into her account, drips of a few thousand a month.
He has bought my grandparents things, bought me things. I pretend he’s just a great and generous family friend but I know she’s f*****g for cash. It’s not even like she needs it. It’s wild.
Je souhaite 10 months ago
LOL just maybe she's waiting for him to croak for the big payout
Load More Replies... Koala_Tralala 10 months ago
If neither mom nor the millionaire is married, where's the problem? Adult people can choose the "friends with benefis" style of relationship, nothing wrong with it.
ElfVibratorGlitter 10 months ago
I'd like to point out making 900,000 a year is 6 figures as well and she's dating a millionaire? They are probably just in the same social circles ... And maybe...she actually likes him?
#50
My great uncle Donald [ended] his ex wife so he wouldn’t have to pay child support and alimony. And then my great grandma covered for him when the cops came to question him. She said that he was with her all night and I guess it being back then and also in a small town they didn’t really question that hard about it. My grandpa said he was a kid when this happened and he remembered hearing that while he was playing in the living room and he was wondering why his mom was lying lol. My great uncle Donald is still alive to this day and after [ending] his ex wife, he ended up abandoning his kid by dropping him off at his grandmothers house and never coming back. He also ended up having [intercourse] with a 16 year old girl when he was like 50 and her mom allowed it to happen hoping that he would sell her his horse ranch for a discounted price. But when he didn’t do that, she reported him to cops and he got arrested and she was able to get the ranch at the end. Still f****d up how she basically pimped out her minor daughter but whatever. Anyway he didn’t serve time for that long tho and now he’s out and doing scams to make ends meet.
#51
My grandmother allegedly had an affair with her sisters husband and ended up pregnant. She has the baby, leaves her with a family member, a couple weeks later the baby is dead from dehydration caused by diarrhea.
I'll never know what actually happened. When my gma was still alive, I straight up asked her about it. She didn't give me a straight answer, kinda just danced around it. It would make sense, seeing as her and that sister had a very adversarial relationship. I was told this by their brother, who happened to be schizophrenic so who knows what the truth is.
#52
My sister attempted [self-harm] at least 5 times but was always rescued. She is assisted living now but doesn’t understand why she can’t be free to have an apartment.
She was valedictorian of her high school class.
#53
My grandfather and his brothers after a long time conflict with Pashtun Kuchis who are nomadic people, every season came and destroyed large parts of their crops with their livestock decided to murder more than 10 Kuchi families by poisoning wells they used.
#54
Not a dark but it's still pretty sus: My great-grandmother might have had an affair with her brother-in-law, who might be the real father of my grandfather
#55
My mom f****d strangers while me dad was at work. My sister and me where in the next room hearing it all. We where young, so hadn't had a clue what was going on.
#56
My grandparents used to have this painting of a little blonde girl standing in a field that hung above their couch, so me being an a*****e, decided to tell my little sister that she was the girl in the painting because we found her on the side of the road. She believed me for literal yeeears! 😅😂
We had a good laugh after. 🤌🏼
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What do you think ?
Robert Beveridge 10 months ago
This is probably more common than I expect, but I convinced multiple people for non-trivial amounts of time that we get duck sauce from squeezing ducks.
FrogMan 10 months ago
There is something I want to get off my chest. It's about that summer, when you went away to community college. I got an offer to do Playgirl Magazine, and I did it. I did a full spread for Playgirl Magazine. I mean spread man, I pulled my butt apart and stuff. I was totally nude. it was weird, I... I mean you probably didn't hear about it because I went under the name of Mike Honcho. But I just wanted you to know that. If you can hear me, if it got into your brain somehow. That I spread my buttcheeks as Mike Honcho
WalkieTaco 9 months ago
my great-something-great grandpa was probably in the Mafia. he had a bunch of diamond rings he gave to his daughters and granddaughters that no one knows where he got, and his last name was Genovese. Oh, and he owned a grocery store with a large back room that no one was allowed in.
Chris the Bobcat 10 months ago
"This little piggy went to the market" was a common phrase in my childhood, but I didn't learn until later that he didn't go to shop. No, his fate was... darker. Didn't find out until I was an adult, but when I said something to Mom, she didn't realize it either. My grandmother must have been hiding that terrible secret to her grave.
ElfVibratorGlitter 10 months ago
My Opa was in the German Army in WW2, but that's not a secret and it wasn't uncommon to be forced into it for fear of repercussions. I was told he gave intel to the Allies, but I'm not sure about that.
Robert Beveridge 10 months ago
This is probably more common than I expect, but I convinced multiple people for non-trivial amounts of time that we get duck sauce from squeezing ducks.
FrogMan 10 months ago
There is something I want to get off my chest. It's about that summer, when you went away to community college. I got an offer to do Playgirl Magazine, and I did it. I did a full spread for Playgirl Magazine. I mean spread man, I pulled my butt apart and stuff. I was totally nude. it was weird, I... I mean you probably didn't hear about it because I went under the name of Mike Honcho. But I just wanted you to know that. If you can hear me, if it got into your brain somehow. That I spread my buttcheeks as Mike Honcho
WalkieTaco 9 months ago
my great-something-great grandpa was probably in the Mafia. he had a bunch of diamond rings he gave to his daughters and granddaughters that no one knows where he got, and his last name was Genovese. Oh, and he owned a grocery store with a large back room that no one was allowed in.
Chris the Bobcat 10 months ago
"This little piggy went to the market" was a common phrase in my childhood, but I didn't learn until later that he didn't go to shop. No, his fate was... darker. Didn't find out until I was an adult, but when I said something to Mom, she didn't realize it either. My grandmother must have been hiding that terrible secret to her grave.
ElfVibratorGlitter 10 months ago
My Opa was in the German Army in WW2, but that's not a secret and it wasn't uncommon to be forced into it for fear of repercussions. I was told he gave intel to the Allies, but I'm not sure about that.
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