15 People Who Learned Life-Changing Truths They Weren’t Ready For

Life has a tendency to change in the blink of an eye. But there are some people who have found secrets that were meant to stay buried. These secrets changed lives in unexpected ways and showed that family isn’t always what it seems. Here are 15 stories that changed people’s lives forever.

• When we would be visiting my Grandmother (Dad’s Mum), there was a woman, Grandma’s neighbor, who would call round the odd time. I was always told this woman was nothing more than a neighbor, a friend of my Grandmothers. I found out years later that she was actually Grandma’s illegitimate child. It was all very hush, hush, and I don’t think any of my Father’s full siblings ever saw her as anything more than a neighbor! © Unknown author/ Reddit

• I used to write songs for my girlfriend to perform at various places, mostly at a place her father owned. She passed away, and I stopped. Her dad never liked me much; he claimed I didn’t know what it meant to be a writer, and I should ’give up because I’m holding her back from actually achieving something.’ About a month ago, I ran into him again. He asked me how I was and what I’ve been up to. I told him, ’Oh, I’m okay. I’m in a graphic design class and I really enjoy it.’ He was very surprised when I mentioned the graphic design class. Then he told me, ’Oh, that’s sad. I really liked your songs, especially the few you wrote after her passing. I still have your notebook, I read it from time to time, it reminds me of her voice.’ © Unknown author / Reddit

• My mother was engaged to someone else before she married my dad. Her parents even got her silver engraved with his last initial. Then she married my dad.
  I always wondered why our family silver had a V on it. She took that secret to her grave. We found an engagement notice and some photos, but never learned anything else about him.
  © Dot_Tip / Reddit

• A good friend of mine’s older sister is, in fact, his mom and the person he thinks of as his mom is his grandmother. I only know because I overheard it one night when my parents were talking to his “mom” © Unknown author / Reddit

• I used to install keyloggers on the family computer so that I could know the password and get on the computer when my parents weren’t home. I never expected to learn that my mother was romantically involved with a man she met on the internet. She was still married to my father, but they were basically just married on paper at this point. She actually ended up married to this man. They were married for about 2 years. My parents divorcing ended up being the best thing for them, but as a 15 years old, it was really hard to accept it. © oliferro / Reddit

• My second ex-wife told everyone she had cancer, including her own kids. Roughly two years later, I found that she did not have, and never had, cancer. Immediate grounds for divorce.
  © Daggertooth71 / Reddit

• My great aunt had a baby at a young age. This was in the 1920s. She was married 4 times, she always seemed so prim and proper. The baby was given up for adoption. Her 2 sons didn’t even know that they had a sister, found out after she died, going thru her things © Impressive_Age1362 / Reddit

• My mom lied to me for years about my biological father. First, she lied about him not wanting anything to do with me. Then she lied about him being dead. After she died I found letters from him begging to see me and my brother and she refused. Later I found out he was alive long after she died. Unfortunately, by the time I found out, he had passed away. I got a letter from his stepson telling me how my father had always wished we came looking for him and had a box of pictures, newspaper clippings and other trinkets he had saved over the years. Sadly, I am the only one left from both sides. © dawwie / Reddit
  

• A couple of years ago, my grandmother told me my great-grandfather went broke and his wife died in the span of about 2 months in 1930. He took his 5 kids (my grandmother included) to an orphanage until he could get on his feet, which took a couple of years. He got married, got his businesses straightened out, picked up his kids from the orphanage and lived a great life until he died of old age. © BestVir***0 / Reddit

• My parents were together for 35 years until my mother passed away two years ago. A year before she died, I found out through my older sister that our father has a wife back in Mexico—Mother always knew. Explains why the two never married, why my father’s mother didn’t like my mom, and why my mother’s family didn’t like my dad. © InksPenandPaper / Reddit

• My cousin had a medical accident involving a peanut allergy. And through that very tragic event, from which she never fully recovered and will require care for the rest of her life, we discovered she had been living a double life and cheating on her husband.
  © fleshand_roses / Reddit

• When I was a kid, my dad would go out for dinner every Friday with another family. It was explained to me that this was his mistress’s family, and Mum put her foot down.
  Only later, when trying to compose a family tree, did I realize that all the kids from the other family were older than me. © crabca*** / Reddit

• I thought I had a half-sibling that my parents refused to discuss. My dad died in 2006. In 2009, my mother called to tell me that my father had another daughter, and she had just made contact with my mother. It turns out my father abandoned a pregnant girlfriend before he met my mother. He did tell my mother about the affair but swore her to secrecy. © mermaidpaint / Reddit

• I used to spend the whole summer break with my aunt, uncle, and cousin (a child from his previous marriage), going months without seeing my mom. Come to find out, those were just trial runs to adopt me because they couldn’t have a child of their own. © Unknown author / Reddit

• At the age of 63 my grandmother found out that the man who had raised her wasn’t her biological father. Turns out her biological father had gotten two women pregnant in 1943, abandoned them both, and never saw them again. By the time she found out, he had already passed away.
  The other child he had abandoned? My grandmother’s best friend of over 40 years.
  © Emmjay332 / Reddit

These stories might’ve changed lives, but they aren’t the only ones. If you’re looking for something else to tug on your heartstrings12 incredible events are worth checking out. With this much drama, they feel like they crawled out of a movie script.