12 People Who Experienced the Shock of a Lifetime

Life is full of surprises that can pop up when we least expect them. Some of these unexpected twists make our days more interesting by breaking up the usual routine. However, every now and then, we may encounter a profound revelation that has the potential to turn our lives upside down. The stories shared in this article revolve around discoveries that completely altered people’s lives, leaving them genuinely shocked and unable to believe what transpired.

• When my grandmother died, my mom asked me to be the one to go through her closet. While searching, I found a lot of interesting stuff, but the most shocking discovery was her journal—a personal diary dating back more than 40 years.
  Reading it was a wild ride, as I found out her own perspective on my granddad cheating on her. Although I already knew because he cheated openly, she never talked about it.
  
  According to her diary, she knew but decided not to take any drastic actions out of fear of not being able to support her family by herself. Raising five children meant a lot of mouths to feed. However, everything reached a breaking point when she learned about her husband having an extramarital son. At this point, she kicked him out of the house. The diary doesn’t describe it that way, but essentially, that’s what happened.
  The most interesting part is what happens next. The mother of my granddad’s other children was, to put it lightly, difficult.
  
  The diary doesn’t go into detail, but my grandma heard that the kids were neglected. So, she asked her husband to bring her the children. My grandma took care of her husband’s extramarital children, a boy and a girl, aged 5 and 4, respectively, if I remember correctly. So now she had 7 children in her house that she was taking care of.
  The diary doesn’t directly say what happens next, but inquiring from my oldest aunt, who remembers the ordeal, after several years my granddad’s mistress came to the house and demanded to take the children away.
  
  The most interesting part of reading the diary was seeing the way she described her own feelings. The first few chapters were heartbreaking to read, but she wrote it in a very hopeful tone. The last page of the diary was a confession where she said that she forgave her husband and his mistress for everything they’d done to her. While I was reading it, I could feel her heartbreak.
  
  During my grandma’s funeral (before I discovered the diary), the oldest son of my granddad’s mistress said that he considers my grandma to be his real mother. She cared for him and his sister when nobody else did, and he expressed gratitude, stating that thanks to her, he’s still here. He and his sister are considered part of the family as far as we’re concerned. As for their mother, I have no idea what happened to her.
  
  I didn’t keep the diary, and my mom didn’t want it either, so I just gave it to my aunt. I don’t know if she kept it. © Thebenmix11 / Reddit
  

• After my husband died in 2020, I found out he had been having an affair with a 30-year-old (he was 55). She apparently aborted his baby. Everything he told me about his prior life was a lie (second marriage for both of us), and he had been having affairs with men since he was in his early 20s. To sum it up, I didn’t know this man at all. We had been together 10 years and married for 6. © TinktheChi / Reddit

• I had a friend who passed away in a car accident at the age of twenty, and it was pretty devastating to the whole community. He was a great guy, but after his death, a ton of stuff came to my attention about him. For instance, he had lied about his mother dying, as she was very much alive and didn’t have a terminal illness. He had also told me he had a near genius IQ and had chosen the pretty mediocre university we went to over the Ivy League because of scholarship money.
  He is still a great guy in my eyes, but it did teach me a lesson about gullibility. © mjcornett / Reddit

• I met this girl at work and really clicked. We had kids around the same age, so she invited us over for a play date. First off, her house was hoarder-level disgusting and absolutely filthy. I didn’t want to even stay inside, so I suggested we go out in the backyard, which was overgrown and a mosquito haven. Second, she didn’t just talk to her kids; she was always screaming. It was hard to differentiate if she was angry or just giving instructions. The kids just tuned her out, but mine were terrified. Never, ever again. © TuesdayWednesdayMe / Reddit

• I was cleaning out my grandparents’ house and found photos from my mom’s first wedding. She never told me she was married before my dad. I finally talked to her about it the other day. According to her, it doesn’t count because she had it annulled. My mom didn’t even spend the wedding night with him; she called my grandpa and made him come get her. My mom only married the guy as a way to get back at her ex-boyfriend, whom she was in love with. She’s now on her technically 4th marriage, and it’s to a woman. I guess she gave up on men. © Prestigious-Ad-5457 / Reddit

• I had gone over to my friend’s house a few times, and I always noticed this strong smell coming from her room. I just figured that’s how her room always smelled and brushed it off. One day, we walked into the room, and there was this drawer left open. To my surprise, she had been keeping all of her old and used tampons and pads. Her reply was, “I’ve never bothered to throw them out.”
  © Simply_Ood / Reddit

• A new client had gone to my esthetician and was getting a Brazilian wax. The new client then went on and on about this new guy she was dating and how he was a bartender at XYZ. After a while, the esthetician realized that the bartender was none other than her very own boyfriend.
  © 248Spacebucks / Reddit

• My brother had his appendix removed when he was about 13. Five or six years later, he confessed to me that he made it all up to get out of doing some homework. He made all the right noises at the doctor’s surgery, who then sent him to the hospital, where he fooled them again.
  
  After the operation, he said the surgeon spoke to him and mentioned it was odd because there wasn’t any inflammation. I am amazed that in the days before the internet, he knew where his appendix should be.
  He is turning 50 next year, and my parents still don’t know... © hudson2_3 / Reddit
  

• When my husband passed away in a workplace accident in another state, I collected his belongings. Among them were answering machine messages from a woman thanking him for being so amazing, and for dinner, etc.
  
  Then, on his computer, there were emails and text messages from several women. I was pregnant and already dealing with his death. Suddenly, I felt anger towards him that I could obviously do nothing with. Everyone told me you can’t be mad at a dead person. But it was confusing.
  © missymaypen / Reddit

• My dad passed away in 1994 when I was 28. While going through his safe, I found some adoption papers. While reading through them, I got excited at the prospect that I might have a brother out there somewhere (I was raised as an only child) but couldn’t understand why my parents never told me that they had adopted a child but never told me. After rereading them, I realized that the papers were about me. After confronting my family about this, it turns out everyone—family, close friends, I mean everyone—knew I was adopted. Except me.
  © rolandblais / Reddit

• A school teacher I admired throughout my entire childhood revealed to me that she cheated on her husband for years, essentially leading a double life. I realized that part of the time she was cheating on him was while she was my sister’s elementary school teacher. © Maximum_Budget_991 / Reddit

• I discovered my brother was stealing money from our father, who had dementia. This went on for a year, and the way I found out about it was because the bank, which held my father’s mortgage, called me wondering why it hadn’t been paid in six months. My father’s bank account also went into the negative around this time. When I confronted my brother about it, he said, “Well, I gotta pay MY bills.” I was about to take control of all the accounts to ensure everything got back on track, but my father ended up in the hospital and died shortly after that. My brother also stole some of my inheritance.
  In the end, he stole over $5,000 from his dying father. © jimmypfromthe5thgala / Reddit

One of the most significant surprises we may encounter in our lifetime is hearing our little ones speak about having a past life and sharing their gut-wrenching memories with their parents. This revelation can leave parents utterly speechless and at a loss for words.