They Were So Close, But Things Change
“I used to be good friends with a girl until high school when we split off into doing our own things. I was a band geek and she started hanging out with another crowd.
One day, my mom called me up, asking if I remembered that girl I was friends with. I told her I had her on Facebook but I didn’t keep up with her. My mom told me her daughter had died and I instantly went to go check her Facebook page, which was filled with grief and mourning over her little girl’s death.
How did her poor 2-year-old die? I was confused because nobody was talking about it.
Then, she got arrested.
It turns out she had filled her baby’s sippy cup with Nyquil to get her to be quiet so she could get loaded on different substances. The poor baby overdosed and never woke up.
She pleaded guilty in November of that same year.
It has been three years and I’m still shocked over that one.”
Some People Just Don’t Know When To Stop
“There was a co-worker that I actually liked instead of tolerated. I went to work one day and found her name on the schedule crossed out for the rest of the week. I asked another co-worker what happened and they gave me that look of, ‘How do you not know already?’
I’d been off for a couple days and hadn’t followed the news. She’d gotten wasted and was driving home, and decided she could get home faster if she used the closed-off construction lane. She hit and killed a 24-year-old CalTrans worker, and just continued home. She and her stepfather tried to hide her car under a tarp. The police honestly had no clue, but one of her neighbors saw them covering her car and heard about the accident, and put two and two together.
I found out over the next couple weeks that she had three previous drinking and driving arrests, her license had been revoked, and the judge at her last case actually told her that if she got wasted and killed someone, they would charge her with murder, not manslaughter.
Her stepfather had an even longer rap sheet of petty crimes. I was baffled, I knew none of this and she was always an awesome co-worker.
She ended up pleading guilty, and the prosecutor knocked it down to manslaughter. She’s serving 14 years. Her three children won’t see her for a long time.”
What A Creep
“In her 40’s, my aunt married a guy with a teen daughter. The teen daughter got pregnant, moved away from the area to live with grandparents, and the baby died of natural causes shortly after.
It turns out my aunt’s husband had been violating his daughter and she had their child. It all came to light because she finally felt safe enough, 1,000 miles away from her father, to tell her school counselor what happened.
They ran genetic testing on the baby and confirmed it, which led to his arrest.
My aunt left him and was understandably messed up after that. He went to prison.”
Might Want A New Best Friend After This Revelation
“My best friend’s wife left him and wouldn’t even give him a chance. When I finally got to spend some time with him and asked what happened, he said the FBI raided his apartment and took his computers. He had child smut on them. He admitted he’d been into that kind of thing pretty much all his life.
He turned himself in and enrolled himself into some Christian therapy program. But from what I know, he didn’t serve any time.
We were best friends since the seventh grade which was 2002.
And no, I don’t associate with him anymore.”
“I Was The Secret”
“I was the secret. My half-brother told me that during a family vacation, our dad informed him that I (his sister) existed. Imagine being woken up by dad with this revelation, ‘Hey, you have a sister. We’re going to go meet her. Get hyped.’
I mean, I guess on my end it was really shocking to hear that my dad acknowledged my existence and wanted to meet me. I’d known who he was all my life and pretty much gave up on ever having a father when I was pretty young. Then, you know, suddenly he’s at my house and I’m shrieking like somebody told me unicorns existed.
We all still associate with Dad. He’s great. I actually live with my half-brother. He’s my best friend. I just feel very awkward at family gatherings because I know not everyone was really happy that I exist.”
Grandma Knew How To Keep Her Mouth Shut
“I recently found out that my oldest aunt (on my mom’s side) was not fathered by my grandpa.
My grandmother got pregnant by another man while dating my grandpa (they were not married yet). My grandpa was under the impression the baby was his, so he married my grandma. After my aunt was born, it was learned that she was not his, but this other man’s baby, but my grandpa stuck it out with my grandma despite this.
They were married for 40 years, had another four kids, and did everything for their grandkids. They were sweet to us. My grandpa died in 2005 from cancer and my grandma is still here physically, but her mind is going.
She’s being moved into assisted living soon.”
Finding The True Meaning Of Family
“In this situation, I was the one who revealed the horrifying thing.
My cousin violated me throughout my childhood and most of my teen years (I was 17 when I finally couldn’t take it anymore and told someone). I think my mom and dad had an inkling that something was weird about him. They immediately went no contact and fully supported me in pressing charges. My brother had always looked up to him, so he had a phase of being very angry – anger that was sometimes directed at me since I was the one who was there, basically. But he came around eventually (really it would have been difficult for him not to since he still lived with my parents and me).
My grandparents, aunts, and uncles all called me a liar. Then when my cousin pleaded guilty, they were still furious I pressed charges. Apparently, ‘family doesn’t do that to each other.’
I had always kind of been the black sheep among my dad’s family members, so they basically did whatever mental gymnastics were necessary to have me be the bad guy. They even came and sat with my cousin in court when he pleaded guilty and had to describe what he did to me. They all still have a big family relationship and tell anyone who will listen about how I’m a stupid Jezebel and my dad and brother are traitors.
In the middle are my dad’s aunt and uncle. They are the only ones who still have a relationship with our family, but have the annoying habit of telling my dad how nice it would be if we could all just make up and get along. Oh, and my cousin got a slap on the wrist, so that sucked. It’s off his record now because he did some counseling and community service.
While I’m still kind of bitter about the extended family’s reaction, I know I’m lucky to have the support of my immediate family – many girls who are victimized by relatives don’t get even that.”
Talk About Parents Of The Year
“A guy I worked with from time to time was in his late 30s, had heart problems, and was on the waiting list for a new heart.
Eventually, they put him in a hotel and scheduled him for surgery later that week. He and his wife went on a binge and his kids were found somewhere wandering around town asking for food.
Needless to say, his surgery was canceled, his name removed from the waitlist, and he later died of a heart attack/overdose at 38.
I found out his health issues were related to his recreational activities and that he was once in prison for kidnapping his wife. I found this out the week between his death and funeral.
I’ve never been able to think of him the same since.”
They Always Thought He Was Such A Great Guy
“I was living with my brother and a handful of roommates in a three-bedroom apartment when I was 17 or 18. The guy who held the lease (he was mid-20s) was a friendly, charismatic, nerdy guy. He was one of those people who would always offer to help and go the extra mile for you. He even covered a portion of my rent for a few months when I was broke.
His girlfriend (16 or 17) also lived with us. She was a nice girl, but she was always anxious, making a fuss or argument over nothing, and generally seemed stressed despite not having to do chores, work, or go to school.
Everything was fine for a few months until they suddenly broke up. The guy said he just couldn’t do it anymore. One evening, we were all playing a card game in the living room and she came by to get her belongings. She stormed into the middle of the game and said, ‘Thanks for beating the crap out of me for all those years,’ or something along those lines. We initially just assumed she was trying to cause crap or turn us against him. Most of us stopped talking to her altogether.
A few months later, the guy’s new girlfriend pretty much confirmed he was beating the crap out of his ex-girlfriend. He started making threats to her when they were alone, too. Saying he would do anything from hurt her to getting her pregnant if she tried to leave him. After she exposed him, he had a social meltdown, kicked us all out (as his name was the only one on the lease) and proceeded to try and sleep with a number of my underaged female friends I had introduced him to.”
They Took Two Different Paths In Life
“There was a guy I used to hang out with in elementary school.
We’d hang out at recess and trade Yu-Gi-Oh cards. We were basically inseparable for about two years, then we started to go our separate ways. Nobody’s fault, it just happened.
I found out a few weeks ago that he had been homeless for a spell while trying to get his custom-made glass pipe business off the ground, and was arrested for breaking into and burglarizing peoples’ cars all around town.
It was so disappointing remembering how close we were, and how a slightly different path in life can compound on itself and end in being homeless and arrested for committing a felony.”
“Then He Dropped A Bombshell”
“I dated a girl in high school my senior year. She was adamant that we couldn’t tell anyone — including our families — that we were together. She claimed that her brother couldn’t know since I was friends with him. It never made sense to me, he and I got along great, and I knew that he would totally give us his blessing. I always assumed it was nonsense, I thought the real issue was that she would be embarrassed because I was the funny, fat guy, and people would give her grief for dating me.
We broke up after a year but continued to hook up sporadically throughout college and early 20’s whenever we ran into each other. I came to realize that she was crazy, but I still had feelings for her. I’d had feelings for her since I was 16 and it was hard to just walk away when she kept popping up in my life here and there. It almost felt like it was meant to be…someday.
One day, a few years back, I was getting drinks with a close friend when she came up in the conversation, specifically her conquests. A few of our other friends had hooked up with her sporadically throughout the years; around the same period we were together and when we hooked up every once in a while. That stung but didn’t shock me, I always had a feeling that was the case. Besides, she wasn’t my property, we weren’t ever really together since it was always a secret.
Then he dropped a bombshell.
She had slept with both her stepbrothers and her actual brother throughout all of high school and sporadically after. This was confirmed by her and her brother on separate occasions, including in high school. Everyone who knew had successfully kept it to themselves.
When I asked my friend why he never told me, he said, ‘Well, we all knew you had a crush on her in high school and we all knew you wouldn’t have ever had a chance with her, so we didn’t want to crush you. Plus it wasn’t my place to tell, really.’
That’s when I filled him in on our history and he apologized. It was ok, I guess that was the best time for me to find out since I had pretty much written off the possibility of she and me together. I just still had lingering feelings.
The weird thing I wasn’t mad at her, but my whole universe was shaken. I was disgusted with her for sure, but not contemptuous disgust, just genuinely grossed out. I haven’t spoken to her or her brothers in four years. I was just invited to one of her stepbrothers’ weddings. Part of me wants to go. The other part of me just screams stay away from that craziness.
I think I’ll listen to the latter.”
So Many Hurt Feelings
“I had a friend that was still in school and looking for a part-time job, and the retail place I was working was always looking. They have stores internationally, so should she want to travel for school, she’d at least have an option to transfer to a store in another country and continue her studies as she wanted to study abroad.
It was pretty great. We got to see one another fairly regularly and hang out, and eventually, she decided to leave for school as she was moving. I was really happy for her.
About a month after she moved, she gave me a call and said that she and a coworker had been secretly dating. I’d had a hunch based on their hanging out all of a sudden, but I’d minded my business because that’s their deal. Turns out, he’d violated her multiple times and was part of the reason that she accelerated her decision to leave the country to continue schooling.
I was so upset, hurt, confused, and had to call out of work for a few days so I wouldn’t say something to him. I was livid that he did that to anyone, let alone a friend of mine, and she begged that I say nothing, so I said nothing. She eventually cut off everyone in relation to that store and I haven’t heard from her in a few years, but hope that she’s doing alright.”
She Let That Happen To Her Own Family…
“My uncle, with whom I am very close, had a female best friend for over 20 years. During that time, she dated and eventually married a guy. I grew up hanging out with them and even spent the night at their house. The wife is successful, a banker, image-oriented, and materialistic. The husband was always in rough shape and worked part-time and leeched off of her. They have a kid.
One day, my uncle told me he found out from his friend’s sister that the husband has been violating her daughter, the wife’s 12-year-old niece. The niece would stay with them for a few weeks every summer and husband had been doing it for a few years. Police raided their home and found some kind of evidence on his laptop.
Everyone expected the wife to leave him immediately since he wasn’t a great guy anyhow and she was so obsessed with looking good, but she stuck by him. She lost a lot of friends and family in the process. In the months leading up to his trial, he was out on bail and staying with her and their kid, and this previously hipster couple started going to church, posting to social media about God’s forgiveness, etc.
The guy got six years, is on year five, and as far as I know, they are still married.
I can’t, for the life of me, figure out why she stayed with him.”
What About My Dad?
“A friend of mine accidentally slipped during a conversation and said that she found out something ‘weird’ about my dad. I got a bad feeling about it and made her tell me. Turns out my dad had been caught three times for lewd behavior in public. He was caught in 2007, 2010, and 2013.
It is now 2018 and I don’t think he’s been caught doing so again, and I hope he has bettered himself since then. I think he was caught twice because someone reported him pleasuring himself in his car at night in a nearby town. Most recently, he allegedly exposed himself to a minor. I found the articles online and he has mugshots. Luckily, he isn’t registered.
I don’t know all the details of his arrests. I want to believe he was afraid of being caught the third time and tried to stop the girl from calling the police on him. I want to believe that he was just pleasuring himself in his car (although in a public area), and was just caught and reported. I want to believe he was just frustrated and wasn’t trying to harm anyone.
The thing that I don’t understand is the fact he is religious. He works for the church and preaches religious teachings and lifestyle to us. As a dad, he’s been not bad. I know he cares about us and works hard to provide us with a good foundation for us to succeed. He has physically hurt us on several occasions when we messed up. He is a strict disciplinarian. I resent many instances of his parenting because he could’ve handled situations better, but I don’t consider it abuse.”
Everyone Thought HE Was The One Being Abused
“I worked with this guy for a year or so about a decade ago. We were buddies and cracked jokes. He would always take me home. He was just a happy go lucky guy.
He was a new proud father and loved his son. But the mother was crazy. He would come to work with signs of her abusing him. He never laid a finger on her. Except for one time he hit her with a TV remote.
He got wasted one day. He blacked out and hooked up with another woman. She got pregnant. Even though he didn’t remember, he took responsibility for it. He pointed out that he wasn’t taken advantage of her.
After that, his girlfriend got more unhinged. He could tell that she was going to make him snap. He wasn’t happy anymore. But he refused to leave her.
Cue two years later. On the news, it turned out that he shot and killed a relative, then shot his girlfriend in the shoulder. She lived. Then he brutally beat his son to death with the piece. The girlfriend’s other kids hid in the closet.
It was so bad that it messed up some of the officers who arrived at the scene.
I cried and was sick for a couple of days. I didn’t know that it had gotten so bad.”
They’re Not All Saints
“I found out that my grandma did some messed up things when she was younger.
After she died, tons of stories came out, and it turned out one of her children secretly had a different father than the rest (there’s five in total) and she had always refused to discuss it and didn’t even tell the child until she was on her deathbed. Her oldest child (my uncle) told stories about how she would sleep around behind her husband’s back, and that when he got sick with tuberculosis and basically lived in the hospital, she had a different guy in her bed every week.
My grandad killed himself around this time (I was always told it was because of his illness, but my uncle had a different version of events where my grandma basically abandoned him on his sickbed and moved on). She had a mental breakdown soon after this and attempted suicide multiple times before being sectioned for many months. This is the same woman who was the sweetest little old lady who lived for her grandchildren and was my best friend growing up. It was honestly a shock to hear a really negative side to her that I would never have imagined.”
Love Stories And Want To Read More Like These?
Subscribe to our digest and receive a weekly email of hand-picked stories.