From getting married without telling their families, to living in a van down by the river while attending school full-time, people share the biggest secrets they are hiding from others.
[Source can be found at the end of the article]
I got married a few weeks ago. I came back from my surprise honeymoon on Thursday and was told on Friday that I have cancer. I can’t bring myself to tell my husband but I will have to at some point. It’s not so bad, I’m 60 so I’ve had a life of ups and downs. But I still have things to do. It hasn’t sunk in yet, really.
BritishTrailerTrash
No one knows where I’m at other than my sister. After my mom passed away, I just threw a dart at a map and moved to a new state without telling anyone. I’ve basically started a new life out here. I think a few people know I’m somewhere in Michigan but that’s about as much as my sister has really let slip. The change has been very good though, between my wife and her family, I’ve surrounded myself with much more positive influences.
Back2MyRoots
A friend and I have a small business together which we started about 5 years ago and have been slowly growing. We both have other careers (in a similar field) but have been able to build this business.
My family talks about it like it’s a little “side project” and has no idea we just had an offer to buy up our little company for an 8 figure amount of money. And that we’re probably going to turn it down.
furrrsurre
My mum is going through a divorce and hes refusing to help her financially. They both now have very low paying jobs. I dont live at home anymore but my four siblings do and due to the money situation (which included him telling his 13-year-old daughter Christmas is cancelled and refusing to pay for their food or anything) we decided to just get one present each.
Ive been secretly shopping the sales for months and stock piling bits and pieces for them so they wont come down to that just one gift. Maybe its superficial but I just want them to have one good day in this crappy year.
finallygaveintor
I’m pregnant. Not just pregnant, but 18 weeks pregnant. Feeling movement kinds of pregnant. Super huge belly kind of pregnant.
My last pregnancy ended in a stillbirth last April. We were 18 weeks in at the time. My family did kind of a bad job supporting us, and frankly, I’m not ready to talk about a baby that I’m not sure will be coming home with us. My family lives down the street, and I see my in-laws every few months, so it’s not that they wouldn’t notice if they paid attention.
We were planning on revealing at Christmas, at 23 weeks, but I’ve toyed with just sending out a text after the birth.
RockCollector
I’ve only told my mom and husband, but I’m definitely keeping it from the rest of my family. I just celebrated my first month of sobriety with AA. Not a huge thing, but I don’t really feel like defending my choice to not drink and having people treat me differently.
notarealnameisit
That I am just very depressed. I’ve had no experiences similar to people my age, hardly any romance, and most important, sexual experience. Life is just whizzing past me and all I can do is just watch. Everyone else I know is gainfully employed, have nice friends who love them. I’ve NONE of those. I know my parents tolerate me instead of loving me. No-one respects me. NO-ONE.
One sibling has moved away to Australia, another is being taken to Austria for her birthday… It kills me because I’ve NO GOOD in my life.
LoveBull
That I’m planing on quitting my job in a few months and I’m going to hike the Pacific Crest Trail next summer. I may not be back after that I might just continue to travel. I don’t like the idea of being jobless but I don’t like my job so it’s time for a change anyway.
Iridebike
I’m getting a biopsy on a possibly cancerous lymph node. I’m not mentioning it to anyone because it’s most likely not cancer and there’s no point in anyone being stressed out by it, but me. It doesn’t help that my mom died of lymphoma when she was in her early thirties. There’s something a little sadistic about the fact that you have to wait to get a biopsy and get the results just like you would any other medical procedure, I mean, I get it, it’s not an emergency, but the psychology of it is messed up.
Septic_Elbow
That I don’t want to go on a cruise.
My sister called me up, all excited, asking about the one thing that has always been on my bucket list, and my thought was, “sweet, we’re finally going to see the Field Museum!”
My sister won some cruise tickets and invited me to tag along. She is super pumped and excited about this. Our parents and older sister have done the whole cruise thing, so she really wants to go. I was never interested, but I’m going so she has a good time.
PiLamdOd
When I was in high school (UK, about 8 or 9 years ago now), I wrote a short erotica story with a theme of incest. No idea why, just got bored and fancied something a little controversial. It got passed round my classmates but eventually found it’s way to the teachers – my vanity made me sign in – who said that despite the inappropriate subject matter it was well-written. They sent it to my dad who read it and chewed me out over it, my sister knew about the story but never read it or even really know what it was about and my mum still doesn’t know it ever existed. I promptly took the story and burnt it in the woods.
My secret is that I never stopped. I simply post anonymously online and I’ve gotten a lot better with several multi-chapter series under my belt and a lot of positive comments for my work. I’ve not had as much time nowadays to do as much writing as I’d like but I’m always thinking up new ideas for stories.
OldKingClancey
I am teaching myself Russian. I have been devoting about 15 minutes a day to it for a couple weeks. I was going to mention it to my parents a few days ago then I stopped myself and decided it would be funny if I got decent at it first the surprised them. Imagining people’s reactions to me revealing I can speak, read, and write basic Russian when they didn’t know I knew a word is actually serving as a great motivator to keep going.
hastalanever
Mostly hiding it from my mom, but I’m a woman dating a transwoman. She’s not exactly who I always pictured myself ending up with- she’s a vet with tattoos of the opposite political party that’s a decade older than me. She is super sarcastic and I absolutely love her. She’s beautiful and so smart and the first person I’ve dated that I could imagine myself marrying some day. Considering telling my mom around Christmas but may wait longer so she doesn’t kick me out or something.
smoggyvirologist
Specifically my family: my work schedule. Im holding off telling them what my work schedule for the holidays are. I work retail so I would work thanksgiving but I do have it off. I really dont enjoy time with them so Im considering telling them Im working all day.
Anonymous
I recently got married. It was just at the local registry office but we do have a small gathering planned next year. It was decided when we were on vacation and I mentioned that if we were going to move to a different country we should get married for visa purposes.
My secret is that I plan to surprise my wife with a proposal next month. She thinks she’s missed out on getting proposed to in a traditional sense.
Prankmore
I’m living in a van down by the river. I’m a full-time student and I’m pretty sure no one would want to work on group projects with me anymore. It’s already hard to explain why I can’t get on the internet at night (after the library closes).
Rents here are very high though. You can live in a hotel for less than the average rent on a one-bedroom apartment (still not what I’d call affordable).
PyrocumulusLightning
None of my family knows I’m bisexual. My dad has constantly made cracks at the LGBTQ community. He has openly said that men are not meant to lay with other men, but he doesn’t care about girl on girl. My mom would probably understand but she tells my dad everything.
All my family are very conservative. When I told them I was an atheist they nearly stopped talking to me. My mother claimed I was just going through a phase, even though i was 24 and was fairly confident.
My ex-wife knows about my sexuality as do most of my friends. But my parents are left in the dark, as they are just not open-minded enough to understand.
I would tell them if I wasn’t worried about them dropping me out of their life. Sadly, I need them to be involved with my son and myself. I just had to keep it quiet.
Go_Home_Ur_Drunk
Four years ago I started to have panic attacks. My best friend and my ex know this but only because they were with me when it happened, the thing is that I can go months without having one but I know that sooner or later a day will come and I’ll have one and that thought just scares me. I don’t like to talk about it because then people will think I’m mad or something.
LatinaGatita
I’ve hidden this from my family (I’ve told a few close friends because I trust them more). A couple years back my ex got pregnant with my kid. She lost it late in the first trimester. Part of what led to our breakup (didn’t help she went and slept with another guy to “feel better.”)
Part of me is glad I didn’t become a father at 20, but it still hurts when I think about what could have been.
IrishWithoutPotatoes
That I’m married. My partner and I decided not to tell anyone until we live with each other. We currently live in different countries and it’s complicated.
I’m close to my family so it’s not going to be pretty when they find out.
Most people also don’t know I had 2 miscarriages before I transitioned from being a woman. I’m male now and most people just assume I never wanted kids or they don’t know I used to be a woman.
maddamleblanc
I’m falling head over heels for a coworker who is 8 years older than me. I want to spend every minute of the day with her. I had the opportunity to kiss her and probably go even further, but she was wasted, so I pretended like I didn’t notice her giving me that look. When she’s sober, she doesn’t even hug me. When she’s drunk she puts my head in her chest and kisses the top of my head. I want to be with her so badly, but I feel likes she’s only interested in me after drinking.
thatdandygoodness
Everyone thinks my parents are super rich. Truth is, they were at one point. My dad used to have really high paying jobs but now hes done a 180 and doesnt work at all. He hasnt made any real money in years. My parents still live like theyre making $500k per year and within a matter of months they wont have anything left. Pretty soon the expensive house will have to be sold and retirement accounts will need to be liquidated. Hardly anyone I know knows the truth. Partially because Im embarrassed that I personally make more money than my parents and partially that Im selfish and enjoy that my parents were pretty wealthy at one point and dont want to admit that those days are over due to their stupid decisions. Im also worried that Ill have to take care of my parents and Im only in my 20s.
If anything, Ive learned what not to do with my life.
bluepost14
I stole $200,000.00 from my old job out of spite. I got caught and Im working in IT to pay for my lawyers despite the fact that I most likely will end up in prison or with an ankle bracelet.
No one in my family knows. Nor my friends. I’m struggling and I just want to try and right this wrong.
Exilitor
That I am using alcohol to cope with a recent breakup. Not overly so, but enough to make them worried.
My ex moved out, and I’m stuck in my lease in an apartment that is in a city that I hate (I moved to this city for my ex). So until I find a new apartment (which is proving to be very difficult), I’m stuck in this apartment that we moved in together with all the memories. So, having a beer or two when I get home helps with the overwhelming pain of being reminded of everything we went through in this apartment in the last 2.5 years.
I’m trying to distract myself by getting out there, but I’m so isolated in this city, and my whole family lives in the next city over… And I don’t have a car, so it’s like 30-60 minutes of transit just to go cry on someone’s shoulder.
Mediocre-raptor
I’m struggling with every aspect of my life right now: career, relationships, identity. I moved away from home to be independent and due to the company I work for, I barely make enough to cover monthly expenses. I’m constantly put down by others and this makes me feel like they have a point (I’m just socially awkward I swear). I’m also considering attempting to transition M-F but my brother is transitioning F-M and being his only pillar of support I really don’t want to open that up. He has handled everything really poorly and I’ve seen how the rest of the family has reacted and I can’t handle that at all. Between being confused about who I am and debating with myself on a daily basis whether I should be alone, attempt to hire certain services or just give up and re-home my pet birds that don’t like me before I top myself.
BrokenParts23
I’m a pretty big and manly guy who loves rock/metal. But I also LOVE to dance and sing, and I don’t mean dancing and singing to metal, more like “normal” stuff, like 80s styled pop, to the point where I struggle to sit still while listening. It got so bad that I bought Just Dance and played it for a while until I just started to dance to my Spotify playlists on my own.
I write songs almost constantly in my head, ranging from rock to cheesy love songs and the best ones I write down and develop further in a secret google drive folder that nobody will ever see. There are quite a few that I’ve had in my mind for years and years and only recently began to write down.
Whenever I’m at a party and dancing is brought up I always shrug and say “Oh you know me, dancing isn’t my thing.”
I also ended up in a situation where Just Dance was brought up and everyone laughed about the game being stupid and I laughed with them. “Yup! I’m not level 100+ in that game…
SatanOnHoliday
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