
There are few things more satisfying than a crisp $20 bill. Well, maybe a crisp $100 bill.
But twenty big ones can get you pretty far nonetheless.
Whether it's tucked firmly in a birthday card, passing from hand to hand after a knee-jerk sports bet, or going toward a useful tool, the old twenty dollar bill has been used for countless purposes.
A recent Reddit thread asked folks to share their best uses of that timeless institution.
theotherhalfof2 asked, "What's the best $20 you ever spent?"
For many, it was all about the clothes.
With secondhand stores dotting every town and city there is, true gems lurk on racks just under our noses. And with a $20, those new threads are yours to keep forever.
Breaking Even
"I got a jacket and a pair of jeans at goodwill for about $20. My first time wearing the jacket I found a tiny zipper inside a pocket."
"There was a secret inner pocket with a twenty in it."
Buying Sight
"A pair of blue-light canceling reading glasses."
"I have to stare at a lot of different screens throughout the day for my job. It's been so nice to not fall asleep with a headache every night, although it may be a placebo."
-- Arcinbiblo12
Keeps On Giving
"23 Years ago I was in the US for some work and was not prepared for the cold of Chicago. Went to wal-mart and bought myself a cheap, warm jacket."
"I'm wearing that jacket right now - still looks fine, still keeps me warm."
-- TastyEnd
As Good As They Come
"Wool pinstripe double breasted suit from Goodwill, fit perfectly and was brand new. Ended up wearing it to get married the next year." -- verminiusrex
"God I love Goodwill!!" -- Neverthelilacqueen
For others, the $20 bill facilitated a true act of kindness. They were glad to put their money towards such a worthy cause, celebrating human connection in the process.
The Socks She Needed
"I work at a thrift shop. A homeless lady came in and asked us where the socks were. We only sell new socks, so I directed her towards the new socks and she was... shocked and disappointed by the price tag, surely."
"I gave her a moment as she looked, and she moved to some kids' socks and picked them up, and I... just couldn't let that happen. I told her that I would help her, and told her to get herself some socks and a jacket."
"She kind of just... held out the children's socks, so I took them, put them back, and grabbed the extra fluffy socks that were hanging."
"She grabs a jacket and some pants, and I pay for it. My coworker looks the other way since we're not supposed to purchase anything while on the clock. The lady is in tears as she walks out."
"I notice that she's still outside a minute later putting them on, and ask her if they fit her or if she needed something else; and she told me they were perfect and proceeded to cry. I cried in return."
"It was a good day."
-- Snowodin
Not Forgotten
"A guy came into my work when I managed a mom and pop Pizza Place. He said he was stranded with no phone, and no money, but that the people at the Verizon store next door to us said they could get him a cheap phone with some minutes on it for 20 bucks."
"He offered to do dishes for a few hours to make some money so he could get this phone. I told him not to worry about it and gave him a 20 from my wallet. He thanked me, asked me for my name, and then he left and I never saw him again."
"Skip forward about 5 months, and when I get into work the owner was there and said she had gotten a letter addressed to me. 'Weird,' I thought."
"But when I opened it there was a 50 dollar bill and a short note from the guy I gave 20 dollars to thanking me for my kindness and for not turning him away."
"Turns out he was in a bad way (addicted to hard drugs and homeless) and really was stranded there. He was trying to get a phone so he could contact his parents (who lived in another state) for help."
"From what it sounded like, he seemed to really turn his life around. He was clean and working a stable job while still living with his parents."
Quiet Kindness
"I paid for a truck drivers meal at a truck stop. His credit card wouldn't work and he looked really distraught about what to do."
"He wasn't trying to rip off anyone but he didn't have any cash. I quietly told the cashier I'd pay for it and did without him ever knowing who it was. It just felt good to do it."
The Best Finale
"It was the day before payday. My wife came to see me at work. My break was in an hour, so I asked for her to wait a bit, so we could enjoy it together. She did."
"I bought her some lunch, because it was what I could afford. I bought her a ham and cheese sub sandwich and two iced teas. These were her favorite. I bought gas with the rest of the twenty so she could get home. She dropped me back off at work."
"That night, she passed away. It brings me comfort to know that I bought her favorite sandwich and drink for her that afternoon. It was likely the last thing she ate, since it was near dinner. I'll never forget it. Best $20 I ever spent, because it was for her."
A handful of people recalled a memory that was made possible by $20. There's no two ways about it: money motivates people and makes things happen.
Leaning Into the Nerdery
"It was my ninth or tenth birthday. My grandparents gave me $20. The first $20 bill I ever held in my hand! I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it."
"A week later, we went into the city and Toys R Us. I went straight to the Transformers aisle. And there he was. My favourite Transformer. The one I always wanted...Soundwave."
"He's the one who turned into a Walkman and he could eject cassettes that turned into robot animals. The price tag said $19.99. It was meant to be."
"I took Soundwave to the clerk and gave her my $20 bill. "And here's your change!" she said, as she gave me a single penny."
"Ah, Soundwave. The best friend a lonely little nerd could have."
Different Time
"I went to a Rush concert in 1982. The ticket was $9.50 and the t-shirt was $10." -- PaulsRedditUsername
Motivational Spending
"My then six year old niece had a loose tooth she loved to show off and had resisted pulling out for two weeks. We were all at my parents and I was getting ready to leave, I pulled out a $20 and said 'I'll give you this right now if you pull out your tooth.' "
"She was already crying because her little sister had did something so when she ran into the bathroom none of us had no idea in what she was about to do."
"So she comes out crying still, but a little bit of blood I'm her mouth because of course, she pulled out her tooth. But the now removed tooth fell down the drain to the sink and she was crying because she lost her proof!"
"After she calmed down she was happy as a clam with a brand new $20 and everyone was quite proud of her. My sister told me she spent it on candy and shared with her little sister."
For the Story
"It was actually to a scammer in Rome. There was this guy right outside of Colosseum who started tying strings around my wrist and told me to make a wish. I knew it was going to cost but I thought what the hell, last day in Rome so might as well go with it.
"My wish was to find love."
"I spent rest of the day getting lost in the city and stumbled across two weddings and one baptism ceremony. So I did find love, just not for myself."
-- FatalFinn
Destiny
"Paid about $20 in airline fees to cash in my air miles for a ticket across the country. Was recently laid off and had time on my hands so flew across the country to meet a girl I had been talking to that I had met in a chat room online."
"Stayed 2 weeks with a family friend getting to know her. Later that year she came and visited me then moved in with me. 18 years later we are married with 3 wonderful kids."
Stayed Just Long Enough
"$10 on a coffee and cake meeting at 6pm, since I had coffee that late I decided to go to a gig nearby $5 door fee and $5 for the beer that kept me there (it was rather boring)."
"Up rocks a casual friend I hadn't seen in a while, something about that night had us seeing the other in a different way. That was 9 years, 3 cats, several aquariums ago."
"We're planning on getting married next year."
Years of Thought and Entertainment
"Many years ago, I was walking up Madison Avenue, in Manhattan. I think I was heading to the bus stop at Madison and 96th Street. On the way there, I popped into this small bookshop that's on 92nd or 93rd Street, or thereabouts. I don't know if it's still there, especially with this pandemic."
"I went in on a whim, just to browse, because books, to me, are like catnip to a cat."
"I wasn't planning on buying anything but I picked up "Collected Fictions" by Jorge Luis Borges. I started flipping through it and I was so enthralled that I just had to buy it on the spot. It was about $20 and I usually don't splurge in an instant like that"
"also, $20 was a lot more money back when this took place — but it was worth every penny. This book is an anthology of Borges' work and it's just terrific. To this day, I'll pick it up every once in a while and read my favorite stories from there."
So next time you have a single $20 left in your wallet, maybe take a moment to think about using that thing intentionally. You never know what memorable moment might come of it.
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Gunshots. Car accidents. Stalkers.
I've avoided them all by mere seconds.
But I'm not unique.
Every day we all live a balance between life and death.
Redditor TheWingsterwanted to hear about the times we've all thought we were about to leave this Earthly plane but found ourselves still breathing. They asked:
"What moment made you think 'yup, I'm dead,' but you survived?"
I believe we all live moment to moment literally just surviving. So let's hear about when death is being loud.
A Goner
"Briefly trapped under the raft while in rapids white water rafting. Didn’t get the breath I thought I would when my head hit the bottom of the raft. Thought I was a goner. A second later I was to the side of the raft and only mostly still freaking out."
spaceman_danger
Stop Smoking
"I was 11. I had just developed asthma and my mother refused to quit chain smoking in the house. One night I have a severe attack. I'm trying to use my rescue inhaler and its not working. Each time I try to inhale it just goes right out my nose. I panic."
"I vividly remember my mother smoking a cigarette as the panic is giving way to hypoxia. She's screaming at me to use my inhaler. Right before loosing consciousness I realized that was it, I'm dead. There wasn't a whole lot of life to flash before my eyes. A sense of calm and peace settled over me as I collapsed."
"My parents did CPR on me until the paramedics arrived. I woke up in ICU days later with a tube down my throat. The doctors were surprised I survived. My mother never smoked in the house again after that. The car was still fair game for her though."
Saiyanman007
Lungs
"I was choking on food, almost a full blockage and couldn't get any air in. After several attempts to get it out, it sunk in that it was really lodged in my throat and I was screwed. Started to feel dizzy and everything moved slowly. I remember thinking what an embarrassing way to die and that I didn't want my kid to be watching (it was at breakfast)."
"I started dialing 911 when my husband came up behind me and started first aid. He got the blockage out and I started vomiting everywhere. It was very intense. I still went to get checked by a doctor to make sure my lungs were clear because I felt dizzy for hours after and my throat was raw. Took a day or so to heal. He 100% saved my life!"
shadowball46
Oh Crap!
"When I was a 6th grader I was cutting plastic with a box cutter, knife slipped and sliced a 6 inch long and .5 inch deep cut into my wrist, cut almost every vein and the tendon some people have, my first thought was oh crap I’m bleeding, followed by me running to the bathroom and then slipping on the blood and smacking my head of the floor, knocked out and somehow lived."
sovietsexyboi
Just a Graze
"I went under the wheels of a semi while riding a bicycle. Trapped for 2 hours until they cut my bike apart around me. Walked away with a graze on my leg and elbow."
PokesPenguin
How in the world? My stomach is in knots.
Lived to see another day!
"Squished in the middle car of a multi-car highway accident."
"Air bags deployed/car totaled/smelled burning scent (not sure what it was but assumed the car was about to explode). And stuck in the fast lane on the highway as other cars whizzed by this cluster-f#% at high speed. Lived to see another day! Felt extremely shaky from adrenaline for hours afterward…"
LBinSF
BOOM!!
"House explosion, 3 years old Edmonton, AB. I vividly remember standing next to a stove that someone was fixing in the basement apartment of my Dads friends house (who we were visiting) and next thing I was opening my eyes in in the daylight outside. I completely blacked out while the gas stove exploded and I landed clean in the driveway. My dad and mom were on the front page of the Edmonton Journal 1993."
"I remember distinctly thinking the brightness was heaven and that I had died and fell into heaven- my baby sister had died several weeks prior to SIDS and my mother and father had to explain where she had gone and I thought I was in heaven but it was the sky."
AD_Skinner_no_shirt
So mission accomplished...
"Car accident. We hit a patch of ice and went over a guardrail and off a 40 foot cliff. I knew was dead the moment I pulled my leg free from the piece of door stabbing through it and the blood came out like a faucet. I figured I could at least climb back to the road for help before I passed out so I did."
"I flagged down a passing truck and passed out and died in the ambulance before they brought me back. The firefighters used my blood trail to find my friends car which saved his life. So mission accomplished."
Shes_dead_Jim
fade to black...
"Had a car crash into my house and hit me when I was a child. I was sitting on the couch at the time and it hit me, drove through the next wall into the garage, then came to rest on top of my lap, pinning me down to the couch with it's full weight. I wont go into too much detail about my injuries: suffice it to say that it was pretty gorey."
"It took over an hour for the emergency responders to get me out from underneath it. That hour is foggy at best. I remember so much pain, and at some point I felt this overwhelming sense of peace about the situation. Like, I instinctually knew that all I had to do was let go and the pain would stop."
"I started to let go, and I began slipping away. The pain stopped, the world slowed, and everything started to fade to black. It felt like I was floating on water, and all the fear and agony was taken far away from me. I snapped back into myself to the sound of a firefighter yelling at me to stay awake. Immediately the pain returned and I was fully 'here' again. Didn't hit me until much later in life that I was interrupted in the middle of the death process."
Apprehensive-Donkey3
"I'm laying in the hospital right now typing with one hand. I found out a few days ago that I remained conscious enough to call 9-1-1 myself even though I don't recall doing that. Pretty much the only reason I'm alive is because I didn't injure my head."
FormerUniform
Good for all of you. Do great with the rest of your lives.
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Ah college. What a time to be alive.
The people who love to keep that party going are great.
But many have a bad Pater Pan complex and never learn to grow up.
Yet some end up on top of the world.
It's all a coin toss.
Redditorihaveaclip4urcliquewanted to share the tales about what happened to the life of the party after everyone grew up. They asked:
"College graduates of Reddit: What happened to that friend that never stopped partying?"
My life of the party people are dead and depressed. Cheers...
Yin & Yang
"One’s a doctor, one lives in a towable caravan."
Low_Corner_9061
"There doesn't seem to be a lot of middle ground in this thread."
space_monster
Tabs Up
"Worked at a bar in college, and friends worked at other bars. So I knew a lot of people who drank a lot. Most went on to be in sales or some other job where interpersonal communication skills are more valued than raw academic skills. Some do very well."
AmigoDelDiabla
"Bartended full or part time for 15 years now. It's funny those same people keep coming in to drink, but now it's with coworkers and clients and rack up huge tabs and tip the best."
Minimum_Attitude6707
Drink to the Top
"He drank with the right executives at a conference and got offered a job. He now makes three times what I do."
Moctor_Drignall
"I know someone this happened to as well! Our senior year I think she drunk-tweeted something and a company loved what she tweeted that they offered her a job. We graduated 11 years ago and she still works for them! (Although this kind of goes against the thread because she doesn't drink anywhere near as much anymore since she got married and started a family)."
PAKMan1988
Genius
"Ran into an old friend who was like that. We were in our late 30s when that happened and chatted; turned out he partied hard until late 30s and during that time, flitted around job to job to simply fund his partying. One day he looked around and noticed that he was the old guy at the bars hanging with early 20-somethings."
"He realized that all of the folks our age were ahead in their careers, with family/kids etc. Said that was a pretty sobering revelation and enrolled himself back into school and was in his 2nd year of engineering as he wanted to be an aerospace engineer."
rudebish
The Right Way
"He partied with the right guys and now makes very good money in sales where he parties with clients but the company pays for it."
MySonHas2BrokenArms
Sometimes vodka works you all the way to the corner office. I'm on my way...
Never took off...
"He decided to do a commercial pilot license. Spent so much money on the training and the partying that his debts overtook him. Here, most airlines don't accept pilot candidates with outstanding debts or criminal records. He never got to fly a plane. He still owes a lot of people small to medium amounts of money. Accepted a menial job writing technical manuals."
Ruggiard
The Mess
"I lived in a house with a bunch of guys. One of them was in electrical engineering. He got a job at Applebees for some extra cash and started having parties with work people after work (so 3-5am). That made it hard to make class so he dropped a semester."
"We all graduated and he said he would refocus on school soon, but he was having too much fun partying. I went back to college 20 years later for a football game. He is still working as a waiter at Applebees. He is the creepy guy who acts like he is best friends a with a bunch of 20 year old kids. He’s a mess."
alpacasarebadsingers
Tragic
"He never stopped. He continued drinking at a crazy pace, and lost his job, his driving license, and his wife. He had to move near to a liquor store to keep drinking. He was found dead on the floor of his apartment from a hemorrhage in his stomach caused by years of alcohol abuse. He bled to death from within. He left behind two sons."
SpaceLaserPilot
'dedicated party house'
"A friend of mine in college pulled a Van wilder, and spent 7 total years in college (just getting his undergrad) because he liked the partying so much. He lived in the college 'dedicated party house' that had just two modes, actively throwing a wild party, or recovering from the latest party."
"What was wild about him was that even though he lived a party lifestyle, he got excellent grades and took phenomenal care of himself (when he wasn't getting black out wasted and having weird sexcapades), and was the person who got me into running/marathoning."
"Eventually, he finally graduated with a degree in Mechanical engineering, moved to the east coast, got married and became a born again Christian. He seems happy and successful and just had his first kid recently, but its absolutely weird seeing him post pictures of him getting adult baptized and doing mission work."
GlastonBerry48
Unrecognizable
"He overdosed, blacked out and fell off a balcony at a hotel and hit the pavement so hard his mother couldn’t recognize him."
Impressive-Orchid748
The party has to end sometime. When the lights come on... go home. That's clearly a general life lesson as well.
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We don't often think about how effective many of the items we purchase are–whether we buy them out of necessity or for leisure.
We just expect many of the accessible items like home goods or kitchen appliances to work the way they should without giving a second thought to their impressive feat of engineering.
But when you actually consider how many of the mass-produced items for sale are extremely well made, we might have a newfound appreciation for these products.
Curious to hear specific examples, Redditor Gourmet-Guy asked:
"Which cheap and mass-produced item is stupendously well engineered?"
These practical tools are a marvel.
They've Been Crushing It
"Soda/beer cans. The design has existed for decades with few changes."
"It’s a way of using a relatively small amount of cheap metal to withstand the pressure of carbonated beverages with a reliable opening mechanism."
"During pandemic I also noticed that some companies stopped using thicker material on the upper ‘ridge’ of the can, probably due to supply shortages. They instead used a sort of stepped system that appeared to be almost as strong."
– Die_woofer
Porcelain Throne
"Toilets. I've been a plumber 20 years and very little has changed, or needed to."
"Minimal up keep, cheap and easy repair, very long life."
– RPO1728
Stackable Wonders
"The intermodal shipping container, a/k/a the Connex box. There are millions of the damned things all over the world, in use every single day. They are stackable, can be locked together, attach readily to ships, truck trailer frames, and rail cars, and can bear enormous loads."
"The cost of their manufacture compared to their economic use value over their useful lives is next to nothing."
– MrBarraclough
Fascinating Fasteners
"Zip ties - such a simple piece of plastic but so versatile. I have one of the old fashioned chain link fences, some of the fasteners on the middle poles broke and in high winds the fence was swaying like crazy. A half dozen zip ties on the three posts and it doesn’t budge and nobody even knows they’re there"
– larryb78
How did people camp in the early days without these useful tricks?
They're Lit
"Matches are underappreciated because people don't really understand how complex a match and striker are."
"From the Encyclopedia Britannica...."
"The head of a match uses antimony trisulfide for fuel. Potassium chlorate helps that fuel burn and is basically the key to ignition, while ammonium phosphate prevents the match from smoking too much when it's extinguished. Wax helps the flame travel down the matchstick and glue holds all the stuff together. The dye-- well, that just makes it look pretty. On the striking surface, there's powdered glass for friction and red phosphorus to ignite the flame."
"Now, the fun stuff-- striking a match against the powdered glass on the matchbox creates friction. Heat from this friction converts the red phosphorus into white phosphorus. That white phosphorus is extremely volatile and reacts with oxygen in the air, causing it to ignite. All this heat ignites the potassium chlorate, creating the flame you see here."
"Oxidizers, like potassium chlorate, help fuels burn by giving them more oxygen. This oxygen combines with antimony trisulfide to produce a long-lasting flame so you have enough time to light a candle. The whole thing is coated with paraffin wax, which helps the flame travel down the match. Just don't burn the house down."
"As antimony oxidizes, sulfur oxides form, creating that burnt-match scent. The smoke you're seeing is actually tiny unburned particles resulting from an incomplete combustion. Individually, they're a little bit too small to see but grouped together, they form smoke. There's also some water vapor in there."
"By the way, all the stuff that we're explaining in 90 seconds, it all happens within tenths of a second. Chemistry's fast."
– SultanOfSwave
Insta Flame
"The lighter."
"Spontaneously ignite fire basically whenever you want.."
– LefterisLegend
It's electric!
So Efficient, So Cool
"Not exactly cheap, but I'm impressed that I can have a ceiling fan run on high for 15 years straight and not have it explode on me."
– FadeToOne
The Transistor
"I remember how amazed we were in 1985 to see a chip with 68,000 transistors. Now they’re at 68 billion."
– chriswaco
Back In The Day...
"My favorite part was in school my professor talking about how they used to do the layouts on transparencies by hand."
"Or how during Apollo the guidance aspect of the program was buying up a significant portion of the national production capacity of transistors."
– giritrobbins
Portable Power
"Batteries are marvels of engineering packed tightly into a miniscule canister, even AA batteries are incredibly sophisticated internally."
– HuntertheGoose
We take many everyday objects around us for granted.
Now imagine what life would be like without any of the examples above existing.
Life would be significantly different, amirite?
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It's always heart-wrenching when a loved one passes away. You can't make any more memories with that person, you won't be able to see or talk to them again, and you won't be able to learn anything more about them... or so you think.
While it's true that you won't see your relative again, that doesn't mean you stop learning things about them. My aunt played six instruments, spoke nine languages, and made the hair spray she used to give me. I never knew any of that until after she passed. It made me see her in a whole new way. I also inherited her journal, which included the formula to make that hair spray.
There are plenty of opportunities to learn about someone you've lost. Sometimes you learn something good, sometimes bad, and sometimes just plain hilarious.
That's probably the inspiration behind Redditor HarryHolmes68's question.
He asked:
"What did you find out about one of your loved ones after they passed away?"
Made From A Grandmother's Secret Recipe
"Wow my Nana had a famous chicken stew wouldn’t share it at all. After she died my grandfather admitted it was just canned creamy chicken soup some veggies and KFC chicken. I make it now but no wonder it had a certain taste it was KFC chicken"
– Megalush
"That my grandmother lied about all her recipes"
"I used to ask for copies of recipes of my favorites but I could never make it taste right. I'd cook things with her that when I did it with her helping never tasted right. Always got the "oh don't worry, it takes practice". Thought I was just a terrible cook for years. When clearing out her home after she passed away recently, my dad found a secret stash of recipes very well hidden. Turns out all the "copies" she wrote for us were wrong, deliberately. I'm 43 and just started making these recipes again off her secret stash recipes and wouldn't you know, I can make them so they taste they way they should."
– eczblack
"I grew up loving the meatballs in gravy my grandma would make at the holidays. Turns out I just loved frozen meatballs in Heinz gravy from a jar."
– DeadMansPizzaParty
A Beautiful Life
"My uncle was the gentlest, most kind hearted man I knew. Always joking with us kids and making everyone laugh. He married into the family and was loved by everyone."
"On the day of his funeral, the minister started talking about how he grew up. Then the minister continued on to the part no one, not even my aunt knew. She knew he was in the army in WWII but, nothing about what he did."
"He was a combat medic. Landed on Omaha beach. Everyone in the room was silent, awestruck, by this revelation. The weight he must have carried thru his life, refusing to tell anyone, not even his wife of 50 years."
"I realized he had seen the worst of life, been thru a literal hell on earth and chose to make everyone else's lives better because of it. Still brings a tear to my eye 18 years later."
– DihtdtscIdgara
And A True Villain
"My maternal grandmother was a con artist and lived life on the run since she was 21 years old. I have since uncovered 7 different marriage certificates around different states, marrying different men, and I suppose funding her lifestyle. I also believe she abducted my mother from a hospital as we’ve found her real birth mother now, aged 91. It’s an insane story I’ve uncovered."
– YUHMTX
Remember The Name
"My dad passed when I was 6yo. He loved golf. My single mom couldn’t afford to put me in it but I used to dabble at the local park. Finally, in college I could afford the uni rate of $200 all summer (‘92). One night I went out and joined two older guys. They saw my last name on my tag and asked if I was Joe’s kid. I was. I spent those 9 holes learning about him crashing his Aston Martin, hitch hiking cross Canada with just his wallet (that I am using right now!), and how much he could drink! But they didn’t leave out the fact that his crazy partying days ended when he met mom. That happened 30yrs this summer, heck maybe to the week!, but I’m still tearing up finishing this post."
– justaspoonthanks
The Family Keeps Growing
"Uncle Ingram was apparently a sperm donor back in the 1950s. New cousins pop up on 23andme every couple of years."
– Vampilton
Found Family
"I was kicked out at 16, my best friends mother took me in as her own, she died yesterday, my best friend sent me a picture of her photo album titled, “my sons” and it was just pictures of my best friend and me. It’s been a pretty emotional last 24 hours."
– Iian8787
Everyone Deserves A Chance
"My grandfather was a bank executive at a small bank in a farm town in Arkansas. After his death my mother found a ledger in his safety deposit box. He made loans to people the bank had denied due to background, type of employment and/or skin color. He made the loans from his own pocket. Most of the loans were between $200 to $500. He charged a nominal percentage rate and everything he earned in interest he donated to the church. My grandmother had no idea and was heartwarmed when she found out. He died in 1972."
– username987654321a
A Secret Life
"Oh ok I got this one"
"My mom’s late boyfriend. Really great guy. Colon cancer and passed at age 54. He was a lifelong firefighter after the army. He joked all the time about being a spy in Vietnam. Always joked about having a third degree black belt. Just on and on"
"You never knew if you could take him seriously"
"So he passed. Sad times of course. I help mom clean out his house. We find his old war chest from the Spanish American War. Was passed down"
"Opened it up and god damn…I start finding all sorts of papers marked Top Secret. All sorts of coded messages. I could make out bits of things but it was in verbiage I didn’t understand"
"And hey look there is a black belt that is rather old"
"He wasn’t lying the whole time"
– DaniTheLovebug
The Real Life Tommy and Tuppence
"My Grandmother passed a couple of years ago. She was in her 90’s; a wonderful, bright, classy lady whom I loved. She worked in strike command in the war (the girls moving the model planes on the big maps in the WW2 films), then worked at Bletchley Park towards the end of the war (it is known for being a major centre for allied codebreaking) and then when the war ended she went to work at the Coal Board (government organisation that managed the procurement and distribution of a critical resource at the time) where she met my Grandfather."
"I started reading John Le Carre novels a few years ago after seeing one next to my Grandfather’s chair when visiting. In one book (I forget which) the ‘Coal Board’ is used as a euphemism for the secret service. I formed a theory that my Grandmother worked in British Intelligence in the years after the war, and so did my Grandfather."
"Earlier this year I visited my Grandad; now in his mid 90’s, still heartbroken after losing his great love but doing much better now. We were chatting about my Grandmother over a cuppa and I told him my theory. He looked me dead in the eye and said ‘well it’s about time someone worked it out’. When I mentioned the theory to my Dad some weeks later he suddenly seemed to be flustered and changed the subject very quickly…"
– Ordinary_Shallot_674
A True Hero
My maternal grandmother we found after she had passed was using 10% of her income to sponsor unfortunate kids all over the world. She had been doing it for the last 40 years of her life nonstop. We found letters of her giving those kids advice, and then keeping in contact with them pretty much their whole lives. She received pictures of them growing up, and having families."
"Essentially, my grandmother had far more than 5 kids. She helped to raise, and more grandchildren and great grandchildren than we ever knew. Most of the kids she sponsored were orphans. We spent the next several months after her death getting in touch with all these people. Some managed to attend her funeral, some to this day made a trip to where we spread her ashes, and sent us photos of them there."
"We knew she was a saint to us, but we didn't know she was a Saint to hundreds of children spanning 4 decades."
– sicurri
What a beautiful thing to learn!
It's never easy losing someone, but with lessons or secrets like these waiting, they can live on in your heart.
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