Every family has a past.
We all think we want to know our family's tales.
But that journey can be riddled with horrors.
You don't always want to find yourself saying....
"I wish I didn't know that."
Redditor Flash_Dimension wanted to sip all about the crazy family tea that our loved ones are hiding.
So they asked:
"Once you were old enough, what were the dark family secrets you were finally let in on?"
My family's darkness is too long to share. And I also don't want to know.
Hey Fam...
"Got a Facebook message from one guy asking if I was related to [my dad], since it's not a common last name. I thought he was a fan of his work, because I was in college at the time and the guy was about the same age as me. And that's how I found out my dad slept around and that I had a half-brother the same age as me."
Apatches
Never Found
"My father was married with another woman before meeting my mother. They had a daughter and my dad loved her so so so much his wife started going crazy jealous. My dad noticed some strange behaviour she had towards the girl and when he tried to talk to her about it she started arguing with him. He then left with his daughter to my uncle’s house."
"She knew my dad would left the girl with my aunt while he was at work, so she called the police and said my aunt kidnaped her child. The police came in and took the girl away from my aunt. She immediately tried to call my dad. But the woman drove back home, put poison in her daughter’s milk and forced her to drink it. When my dad arrived, he found his daughter already dead and left alone."
"The woman was never ever found. My dad had never had justice for his first child. Kinda sad. Then when I was born my mother didn’t mind to named me after my 'sister.' We share the same name, and that’s actually how I found it out! I asked my parents about my name and they told me the whole story."
mylows
The Aunt
"When I was around 3-4, my 'Aunt' and her 3 sons came and lived with us for a few weeks. One night my mom stayed up and I found her downstairs sitting in a chair looking out the window. One day, my 'Aunt' and the boys 'moved' and never came back."
"Turns out, she was going through a nasty divorce. She had the boys at the house with her while she was packing things one day, and her husband came home. He locked the boys in a room, stabbed her, and then shot himself. My mom had been staying up with a gun that night because she had seen him in our backyard earlier that night."
Deepstate-intern
No Touch
"My paternal grandfather was an alcoholic wife abuser who regularly cheated on Grandma. When my father was a teenager he stood up to him, and threatened to kill him if he ever touched her again. The abuse stopped."
pattersonjeffa
It's HIM!
"My mild-mannered Christian mother casually told me that she dated a gangster who trafficked drugs in NY during the 80's. He bought her a brand new BMW before getting sentenced to prison for murder for 20+ years. Someone who was friends with her and her ex for YEARS turned out to be an FBI informant and she barely escaped jail, had to enter a witness protection program, and moved cross country."
"Here's the craziest part: He's still stalking her, has contacted her on her birthday every year for 40 years, and keeps tabs on her!! My dad has no idea."
"I asked her why she waited so long to tell me. Like, what if she went missing? and she said 'Oh, honey. He's the type of person that if he wanted to harm me, I would already be dead by now.' Very comforting."
marvelous_persona
This is why we're sent out of the room as children when adults are talking.
Swing Low...
"My grandmother tried to murder my grandfather when she got sick of him beating the crap out of her everyday. She swung an axe at him and he blocked it with his hand and lost his thumb. She left him before I was born."
beers_n_bags
"I don't AT ALL wish to make light of an obviously terrible ongoing domestic violence situation (my grandmother faced a similar scenario, I'm very sorry). But the appearance of the axe makes it poetry. Good on her. I wish every victim could feel that strength."
Dangercakes13
Madness...
"That schizophrenia ran in my mom’s side of the family. I developed it a year after she told me about it at 25. She didn’t refer to it as schizophrenia, but as the '(her maiden name) Madness.' She said that every once in a while someone in our family would go mad and that that’s what they would call it."
"I guess her side of the family also had ties to organized crime. My family never talked about issues or emotions at all so it was a shock. I assumed our ancestors were relatively normal, but I also thought my family was sane back then too."
A**ckindragonyo
“sister day”
"Grandma had 13 siblings, of those 7 women are still alive. Once a year they have a 'sister day' where they all except one are going somewhere to have fun. They’ve been doing this since they were teens. All but one sister, who has been lied to her whole life about sister day, because she thinks it doesn’t exist. This is supposed to have been started when that one sister borrowed something and didn’t give it back."
"Or something trivial like that. We are all reminded whenever we ALL get together (pre pandemic) that we’re not to talk about this, because it will hurt that sister. Still can’t wrap my head around how backstabbing *itchy some family members of mine are. Because this is just stupid."
Whooptidooh
History
"My father always tells me as a joke that it's my fault my mom and him are married ( I'm the second son). But through the years from drunk conversations and several sources I've pieced the story together, my parents separated before they knew my mother was pregnant and only came back together after I was born."
Mond_13
Anxious...
"My mom had a brother who died in childhood, maybe 9 or 10. I always thought he drank cleaning chemicals and died that way, but turns out he was hit by a school bus while riding his bike. Now I know why my mom was so anxious about me biking on the road."
Corgi_with_stilts
Well, family is certainly never boring... but sometimes it's safest to keep these skeletons in the closet.
Do you have any family secrets to get off your chest? Let us know in the comments below.
People Divulge The Darkest Secret Anyone Has Ever Told Them
Shhhh.... keep this to yourself....
Some details in life are just too harsh to talk about. But often the secrets that haunt us are the stories we most long to tell. It's all about unburdening. We all carry so much pain and shame and we long to shed it. The craziest part is that we have no idea that we're dying to talk. When we least expect it.... the truth will out.
Redditor u/SadisticFishyboi wanted to know who would be willing to share some dark details they've learned or about themselves by asking....
What's the darkest secret anyone has ever told you?[serious]
1....
I have droopy eyes and a learning disability due to head trauma I sustained as a child but I never knew what happened. I was drinking with my older step brother and he broke down crying telling me he's sorry for hitting me and causing all those issues. Apparently when he was 15 he decided to strike me in the head and I wasn't the same after. I can't tell you how much it hurts knowing this. crackedenigma
2....
My older sister admitted to me that when she was a teenager she went to the back streets (an area full of warehouses) with our dad's gun and thought about killing herself.
My sister and I are 5 years apart. We didn't become close until I was about 13. She admitted this to me when I was about 14 or 15. I don't know if she remembers confiding in me about that detail, but I'm grateful she thought about her family members. I can't imagine growing up without her. merzul13
3....
I had a conversation with my mom. She was out of it and was 100% honest.
I was never planned for, wanted, or loved. I was an immediate regret. I knew this already but it was nice to hear it out loud. I didn't call 911 or anything, just let's the cards fall where they may. My mom went right back to gas lighting me and doesn't remember the conversation. She's confused why I moved 300 miles away and only talk to her twice a year. FuriousAbortedFeatus
4....
My buddy killed two people trying to rob him with a rock in Brazil while on vacation. He came back with bad scratches and cuts but he never told the authorities in fear that they'd arrest him or flip the story because he's a foreigner. screamingdolphin
5....
My friend came to school and told me something like this one day in fourth grade. "Dude I just ran into this old ladies mailbox in front of her house with my big ole bike on the way to school. She was sitting out front on her wheelchair. So I got the hell out of there. " Anyways she wheeled herself down to see the damage.
Lost control on the steep pavement to the road and got hit by a car. He said he had never biked so fast before. We are pretty sure she died. God may rest her soul. kyber_doo
6....
That someone I knew ran someone over with the car a few years ago. He couldn't help it, it was raining and an elderly woman dressed dark suddenly stepped out between parked cars, he had no chance to react in time. The dark part being that when the police came to inspect the case, they told him not to worry, because they would take care that he didn't get into trouble, because the old lady was "just a foreigner." They reported that his car was in perfect condition, his wipers brand new, anything to deflect any fault at all from him. Rylonian
People Who Made A Lot Of Money From Something Totally Random | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
7....
Friend confessed that he moved back to our hometown to take care of his dying father. Ended up having an affair with his father's wife. She was a foreign bride closer to his age than his father's. At first, my friend joked about sex with his stepmother but as he got drunker he got sadder, and eventually his true feelings about what happened came out and he ended up sobbing in my arms. WillingCriticism246
8....
When I was 15 my cousin and I raided my dad's home brew and got plastered. That night she confessed to me that her father - my dad's brother in law - was a secret cross dresser. She'd come home early from a party and discovered him. Nothing to be ashamed of on his part but he was staunchly conservative and a total pompous fool. Last person you'd expect. My dad and grandfather couldn't stand the bloke.
I broke her confidence and ultimately told my dad. I was a kid and I didn't know what to do with the information. Dad of course didn't tell anyone but he did say "I'll only tell one person: Just the old man when he's on his death bed so he can die with a smile on his face." HiMyNameIsLaura
9....
My mom told me that my step dad is not my half-sister's dad. He had a vasectomy and I'm assuming they didn't want to reverse it, so she hand picked her father from a sperm bank. My sister is totally her Golden child/vanity project. Pretty sure my mom told me so I had to share the burden of the secret, not even my sister knows. And before anyone says I should tell her, I absolutely will not. It is not my place and I'm already the odd man out, they would all 110% turn on me. thebarkosaurusrex
10....
Was once told by my best friend that he had attempted suicide multiple times, and that he was gonna do it once and for all before our friend group started a group call and we joked and laughed for a couple hours. Then he put me on a private call and we talked about how he was mentally but now he's better than he was. Reddit
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/
Do you have something to confess to George? Text "Secrets" or "" to +1 (310) 299-9390 to talk to him about it.