Five Curious Facts About Wives

Marriage and family relationships are as fascinating as they are complex. Dive into these unique and surprising facts about wives, marital bliss, and familial bonds that you might not have known: 1. Two Decades of Silence: Believe it or not, Otou Katayama chose an unconventional method to communicate with his wife for 20 years: utter … Continue reading Five Curious Facts About Wives

June 11, 2023

Platonic Co-Parenting: A Rising Trend in Non-Traditional Family Structures

Some individuals opt for ‘platonic co-parenting‘, where they jointly raise children despite not having a romantic relationship with each other. The reasons for doing this can vary. Some people might be part of the LGBTQ+ community or are just close friends who want to have a child. There have been some criticisms of this approach, but more people are considering it, and the law is starting to recognize these arrangements.

November 7, 2022

27% of Americans 18 and older…

27% of Americans 18 and older have cut off contact with a family member. Of the more than 1,300 people surveyed, 10% reported being estranged from a parent or child, 8% from a sibling and 9% from extended family members including cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents, nieces and nephews.

February 24, 2022

People Share The Best ‘You Have No Power Here’ Moment They’ve Ever Witnessed

There’s something really wonderful, thrilling even, when you subvert the expectations of others and remind them of your own power and authority.

Let’s face it – in the working world (and certainly elsewhere) there are people who will attempt to trod all over you. It is ultimately up to you to advocate and assert yourself.

And sometimes it helps to teach those other people a lesson, too. You know… so they don’t act so foolish again.

We heard people share their stories about power differentials after Redditor sormatador asked the online community:

“What was the best ‘you have no power here’ moment you have ever seen?”

“The first time I had dinner…”

“The first time I had dinner at my parents house after I got my own apartment. My dad was giving me grief as usual. Finally, I stood up and said, ‘I don’t live here anymore. I don’t have to put up with you this way any longer. I’m going home.’”

“And walked out. Most liberating moment of my life.” ~ sunshine2632

“I told my ex…”

“I told my ex I was getting remarried. He told me he was going to stop me and put a lien on my house (which I bought with my money six years after the divorce). My son would come home from visitations telling me how his dad was going to stop the wedding and I’d have to pay him all of this money, la di da.”

“Get to court. His attorney goes blah blah blah for what felt like forever. My lawyer (yes, I had to freaking get one) stands up and simply hands the judge the divorce papers showing the disbursement of funds and how my ex isn’t owed anything.”

“Judge looks at ex’s lawyer and basically asks, ‘Did you even ask for this document before filing?’ and dismisses the case.” ~ NeverCallMeFifi

“So my biological grandmother…”

“Not me, but a story my dad used to tell me all the time.”

“So my biological grandmother was very emotionally abusive. She was very controlling and tried to keep people within her sphere of influence. There’s a reason why my grandfather divorced her.”

“In high school my dad had a job washing airplanes at an airport in our area, which he absolutely loved (he’s a huge fan of aircraft in general). He had classes until roughly 10 a.m. and then he’d be off to work until around 10 p.m. (it was what he loved, he didn’t mind long hours being around aircraft all day).”

“But one day he came home a little too late for his mom’s liking. She said she’d take his keys to his motorcycle and that he’d lost privileges to it. The fact of the matter is that he bought the motorcycle himself and he needed it to get to school as well as work.”

“He laughed in her face and she didn’t do anything. She couldn’t do anything.” ~ ITriedMyBestMan

“My boss calling me…”

“My boss calling me at 7 a.m. on a Saturday to ask if I could lay some flooring for a friend of his at nearly half my normal rate. Yeah, hard pass Andy.” ~ CapuccinoBoy

“This is a bit silly…”

“This is a bit silly, but gave me a great feeling of satisfaction.”

“Due to the bad economy and poor money management, my parents have moved into the spare room of the house my husband and I bought a year ago. Things are mostly smooth, tho I’m not the closest to them for several reasons I won’t go into here.”

“The other evening I was out gardening (because it’s hot during the day and we have the luck of having a streetlight right next to our front yard, keeping it pretty well illuminated even after sundown as I mostly garden at night), and I thought I had gotten the hose twisted, as it kept getting stuck.”

“This went on for a bit until I realized that it wasn’t stuck, but being pulled. I looked into the dim area just past the illumination of the street light and spied my father, crouched over and tugging the hose. Well I did the only reasonable thing to do, and I sprayed him.”

“He yelled and ran inside with me chasing. Once he got inside he made a face and goes, ‘You can’t get me now! I’m inside!!’ in that father-to-daughter-don’t-you-make-a-mess tone of voice.”

“I readied my hose, looked him in the eye and said, ‘It’s my house,’ and just let loose with the hose. He was soaked. Worth cleaning up the mess for that moment of true fear in his eyes.” ~ pumpkinspicepiggy

“A couple of days ago…”

“I grew up with my parents having screaming arguments over every little thing (they do love each other – over 50 years of marriage so far testifies to that) and it always upset me.”

“A couple of days ago, they popped into my house to visit for a coffee on their way to stay with friends a few miles away. Within minutes, they were yelling at each other.”

“I took great pleasure in telling them that I would not stand for such behaviour in MY house and, if they didn’t lower their voices, they could stand outside until they learned some manners. The meek apologies tasted so sweet. As did the coffee.” ~ Mangosta007

“Bye, Felicia.”

“I once had a boss try to discipline me (three months later I may add) for my behaviour as it was noted I was ‘rude to her’ by several of the group’s CEOs in a board meeting.”

“On the disciplinary forms, you both have to write your version of the events and it goes to HR for an adjudication. She did her part and I casually filled in something to the effect of ‘Manager continually pressured me into deleting files from our client management system prior to a regulatory audit which is against the ethical code of our profession and not aligned with my moral standards, I accept I was short with her but she was trying to force me into performing an illegal activity.’”

“I watched her collect up the paper and the colour drained from her face. I never did hear from HR. She got fired not long after when I casually mentioned to the CEO in a bar if she remembered the encounter and explained why I may have appeared a little frustrated and upset. Bye Felicia.” ~Noknox87

“He drives me home…”

“The guy that I’d gone on a few dates with introduced me to his parents, things went well, or so i thought. He drives me home, we end up talking and drinking a few beers, I didn’t want him on the road with any alcohol in his system, and i enjoyed his company, so we end up hanging out until 3 a.m.”

“His mom starts blowing up his phone demanding that he come home, so he drives himself home to find that he’s been locked out of his house. His mom said that he can sleep outside, he shouldn’t be spending time with someone like me (still don’t know what she meant by that), and that i’m ‘just another stop on the pussy train.’”

“He tells her not to talk about me like that, to which she says ‘When you’re under my roof, I’ll say whatever I want about whoever i want!’ so he picks up his phone, calls me, asks if he can stay at my place for a little while.”

“It’s been seven years, we’re engaged, have a dog, a cat, and a happy life. I also plan on throwing some subtle train themes into the wedding/celebration after the end of the plague.” ~ bootylikepoww

“If the concession counter was slammed…”

“I worked in management at a theatre for a while. If the concession counter was slammed and I was able, I’d leave my post and help them sling popcorn.”

“One night while helping out, a particularly belligerent man started cussing out a 16-year-old girl on a cash register for being too slow, even suggesting she quit since she clearly couldn’t handle pushing buttons or scooping popcorn.”

“It was pretty disgusting and I felt so bad for the girl, I stepped in and told the guy that our employees have the right to refuse service to customers who harass them as part of our anti-harassment/discrimination policy, empathized that the lines were longer than usual, and suggested he should apologize and move on.”

“He was PISSED. Left half his order on the counter and started fuming. Anticipating his next move, I went back to my original post that night – as manager of the customer service kiosk.”

“Oh boy, the look on his face when he saw me. (Didn’t want a refund of his tickets though so I assume he watched the movie, without popcorn.) ~ dendriticbranch

“Fast forward twenty years…”

“I wasn’t good at returning library books when I was a kid. I got lectured by my school librarian about it a lot. Fast forward twenty years and I’m a supervisor at the local public library and my former now-retired school librarian goes there.”

“One day I see her sneaking around the front desk instead of coming back to say hi to me and I immediately figure something’s up. I go up to say hi and she acts exasperated and tells me she was trying to avoid me because she had overdue books.”

“So I put on my reading glasses, pulled them down over my nose, and delivered the same lecture she’d given me countless times about being responsible and turning in books on time.” ~ daecrist

There’s something so empowering about these stories.

It makes you feel good to stand up for yourself, doesn’t it?

Good.

You should remember to do it more often.

December 20, 2021

People Share The One Thing Their Parents Said To Them That Still Haunts Them Today

WARNING: some stories involve threats of physical harm or assault of a child

Not every parent is perfect.

A lot of the time, you don’t have to be.

You just need to show up, do your best, make sure your kids(s) have enough food and water for the day and know where they are at any given time. Some days there doesn’t have to be more to it than that.

Yet there are those parental figures who seem resentful of their position, as if they’re angry or unable to let go of their ego in regards to raising their child. From there, the stories only seem to get worse and worse, as we see a litany of stories all starting and ending the same way, with terrible parents.

Reddit user Angry_Cheesecake_ asked:

“What’s the thing that your parents did/said to you that still haunts you to this day?”

Small Remarks With Lasting Effects

“Maybe you could run a few laps”

“One year when I was 12 I attended Christmas at my stepmom’s parents house. It was cool. They get us a few things including some jeans from JC Penny’s.”

“They were the right size but when I got to his house I tried them on and they didnt fit, so I told him they were too small. He responded with ‘maybe you could run a few laps’. He always made off handed comments about my weight but this is ingrained in my brain” ~ hillern21

Tell Me What You Really Think, Dad

“Mom, Dad and I were in the living room watching 60 Minutes one night when I was doing a college program for Graphic Design, which I was really struggling with. 60 Minutes was doing a segment on really skilled art forgers, and I made a comment at the end that being able to fool professionals was really impressive, even though it was obviously illegal and wrong.”

“I added that last part in due to my Dad’s penchant for jumping onto random stuff to be upset at you for, but it wasn’t enough. He angrily burst out that he didn’t want me thinking that what the forger did was impressive, because he didn’t want me turning to that when my art career failed.”

“I mean, I am not and never will be that good, but thanks I guess? I did finish that degree but am changing careers now. All I know is that while I won’t name drop him, that story is going into an acceptance speech somewhere down the line.” ~ morgan145

An Overreaction To A Small Situation

“i hit my brother or teased him or something I can’t remember but it wasn’t very serious (or maybe I said ‘damn’ and my brother picked it up or something) but my dad backed me into the sofa and yelled at me with his face all red from anger ‘I WILL KILL YOU’.”

“I was like 12”

“my parents are usually kind and are very loving so this memory legitimately brings tears to my eyes every time I think of it and any time I need to stop myself from smiling or laughing I think about it and my mood shifts and I hate myself for it” ~ owidh73923sksbha2083

Excluded From The Family

“When I was about 8 or 9, my dad relinquished his parental rights and my step dad adopted me. At the time, he told me he had to take care of his other kids, and just couldn’t take care of me.”

“His wife (during that same final visit) told me that they were trying to have another girl so my sister could have a ‘real’ sister. (All my siblings are half siblings). She ended up having 3 more sons, but no other daughters.”

“Honestly, it broke me as a kid. Since all my siblings were half siblings, I already didn’t feel a part of my own family.”

“My mom couldn’t understand because I was her only kid. All of my siblings had each other and then I was just—by myself.”

“I have struggled with the fear of rejection, and not felt good enough for a long time. It definitely damaged me.” ~ danireeseetc

There’s Nothing Wrong. Some People Can’t Cope.

”What is wrong with you ?! You really have a f-cking problem!”

“By my grandma. I had undiagnosed ADHD, autism and auditory processing disorder, and she was asking why I was not like everyone else. Still hurts years later.” ~ Elisaelle_Alexandre

A Long Series Of Terrible, Fatherly Scorn

“’I hope you die’ ‘Let me just tell everyone how my daughter’s legs are open for every guy’ ‘I’m just gonna go to my other daughter and take care of her since she’ll turn out way better than you’ ‘I don’t care I don’t wanna be your father anyway’ ‘You are just as bad as your mother’.”

“He in fact didn’t have another daughter. He fought for custody years ago only to kick me out.”

“He shouldn’t have lied to court all those years ago if he never wanted me. And if I’m just as bad as my mother he would’ve never tried to get back with her again and cheat on his wife and then use me as an excuse.” ~ GianKMore

A Horrendously Awful Take On A Horrendously Awful Situation

“’If he really wanted to rape you, he would have’—my dad in regards to me being sexually assaulted.” ~ hcomesafterg

Sounds Like An Outstanding Mother

“‘You can die and I wouldn’t care’—said by my birthgiver for struggling in school. She’d also often threaten to kill me if I didn’t improve.” ~ congolesequeen

Just A String Of Them, It Would Seem

“‘You are a disgrace to your father’. He died months before I was born so I never knew him. This was just because I hid my report card from her.”

“Bonus: ‘yeah, I think you’re a whore’. This was because I slept over at my boyfriend’s house for one night. I was 22.” ~ Syntt_

Misreading The Scenario

“‘You’re an emotional terrorist’ because I was suicidal. I was like 15/16.”

“Clearly I was only suicidal because I was trying to manipulate them and not because I was severely mentally ill and being abused.” ~ s9631245

Had bad parents?

While that’s horrible, you’re not alone.

Don’t let what anyone says get you down, even if those people supposedly raised you.

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/

December 20, 2021

People Wax Nostalgic About Their Best Christmas Memory Of All Time

Ebenezer Scrooge is not alone in harkening back to Christmases past.

Many of us reflect on prior holidays.

We enjoy both sharing and hearing about the happy holidays people had.

So a number of Redditors asked:

“What is your best Christmas memory?”

To Grandmother’s House We Go…

“Every Christmas Eve, at Grandma’s house, we’d all have a giant nerf war. We all had our teams of cousins we’d pair up with, and it was awesome!” ~ polysnip

Disbelief

“Not really my ‘best’ but it’s one of my favourites. It was when my dad told me Santa wasn’t real when I was maybe 7 or 8.”

“He was on the road working so it was over the phone, and I immediately hung up and started crying. Then, I called his dad and told him the ‘lie’ my dad just told me.”

“He just laughed… I was so convinced that Santa was real I seriously thought my dad was lying.” ~ jimothy-pickens

A Memory Made Of Memories

“A few years ago, on Christmas Eve we found a box of our baby videos, and we all sat down and watched them for hours.” ~ reammachine

Special Surprise

“Shocking my 16-year-old son with his first car.” ~ Scrappy_Larue

To Be A Kid Again

“The Christmas my parents decided to say we were old enough to not have Santa visit anymore. My brothers and I (6 of us in total) ranged in age from 15 to 26 and we threatened to boycott Christmas if Santa wasn’t part of it.”

“So my parents went out and bought a load of cheap toys for Santa to deliver—water pistols, foam dart guns, swords, shields, dress-up items like Viking hats and crowns and feather boas that could be worn by adults.”

“We spent the day playing like little kids again and it was so much fun. ~ KittikatB

A Very Special Delivery

“I’ll do two. One is the best memory I have that occurred on Christmas, the second is a good (can’t really choose a best) Christmas memory.”

“The first is being surprised three weeks early with the birth of my first child, on Christmas Day. Her birth itself is the absolute best part of the memory, holding her and seeing her for the first time, best present ever. Afterward I failed to even think of checking the nearby Chinese restaurant to see if they were open.”

“My Christmas dinner that year was a bowl of Cheerios sitting in front of the Alastair Sim Christmas Carol before heading back to the hospital for the next two days.”

“A good memory from my childhood (I was probably in Jr. High, if not high school) was the year I decided to stay up all night.”

“After our Christmas Eve festivities, when everyone else went to bed, I set up shop right by the tree, turned on the radio to the all Christmas music channel, grabbed a big mug of cocoa (with mini candy cane dropped in), and spent the night gazing at the tree, reading A Christmas Carol and A Child’s Christmas in Wales, and eventually ending up lying under the tree, where I probably ended up dozing for a bit, but would wake up, see it was still dark, hear the music, and be so happy the night could keep going like that.”

“In the morning, I stoked the fire, grabbed more cocoa, and made our traditional morning pillsbury orange rolls and waited for everyone else to get up. So much fun because it really stretched out my favorite part of Christmas (Eve) and let me enjoy everything with no distractions.” ~ RealPwaully

A Precious Gift

“I’ll do two.”

“Childhood: I was 10, it was Christmas Eve 1996, my dad was dying (it was his last Christmas). He hadn’t lost his voice yet, the cancer hadn’t spread to his throat at this point. We usually did a big Christmas Eve thing with all my mom’s family but this year they left fairly early and we had time as a little family unit to exchange our gifts for each other.”

“I don’t really remember what anyone else got but I do remember that my dad handed me this little box and told me to open it. It was a beautiful white gold charm bracelet with one charm on it, it said my name on one side and the other said Love, Dad Xmas ‘96.”

“He told me he wanted me to fill it with charms from all my travels and adventures. It’s the greatest gift I could ever get. I look at it now and know that my dad loved me. I miss him everyday.”

“Adulthood: I was 30, Christmas 2016. I had started hosting my mom’s side of the family on Christmas Eve a few year before but this was definitely the best. I rearranged my furniture to make sure everyone could fit in our little townhouse. My house was full of delicious smells from cooking all of our family staples for Christmas Eve dinner and the smell of the tree.”

“Everyone showed up on time, there was zero family drama, everyone had an awesome time and left by 10. Christmas Day we went to my husband’s parents’ house and celebrated with his family and his grandparents.”

“It’s also his mom’s birthday that day, she used to make us spend all of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with her which left no time for my family. This was the first year she didn’t have a hissy fit that we weren’t with them Christmas Eve even though we had been doing it that way for a few years already.”

“It was a good memory.” ~ mirandawg

A Mother’s Love

“My fondest memory as a child is when we had Christmas away from home because my mom’s dad was dying. It was maybe a week or so before Christmas and suddenly my mom said we had to go to Arizona because her dad wasn’t doing well.”

“I didn’t see my grandpa often and he didn’t speak English, but he was always kind to me. As a kid, I was bummed that we were not going to be home for Christmas.”

“He passed and mom was very sad. It was hard for me to process the feelings as a child.”

“I remember Christmas Eve was lackluster since it was at my dad’s mom’s house (she was distant and cold to us grandkids.) I was bummed because I thought Santa wasn’t going to find us.”

“Come Christmas morning there were a bunch of presents under the tree. I got a pet robot dog, which had me so happy because my parent’s never let me have a dog despite always asking.”

“Now that I’m older, I appreciate what my mom did. She was going through a very hard time in her life. She lost her mom when she was 3, so losing her dad was a tremendous loss for her.”

“Despite all this, she made sure that we had a good Christmas with presents. I remember being in disbelief that Santa found us, and she told me that she let Santa know where we would be so he can bring our presents.” ~ FoxPaws26

Magical Morning

“When I was in kindergarten, my parents used to decorate the entire house for Christmas overnight while I was sleeping unawares. I remember going to sleep as usual, with the home as usual, and then waking up into what only could be described in my little mind then as magic.”

“I remember running back and forth to the pretty candles and runner on the side table, to admiring the garlands along the staircase rails—giddy with excitement.” ~ Reddit

The Joy Of Giving

“When I was in high school the history teachers all did a toy and food drive for Christmas. They had a friendly competition of whose class would donate the most.”

“I told my Mom about it and for some reason she decided to go all out. We went to the Walmart toy department and filled up a whole cart. Then we went to the grocery store and did the same.”

“When I came to school the next day I felt like Santa Claus himself with my sacks full of toys and food. I got there early so my classmates wouldn’t see but my teacher happened to be there early too. The look on his face was priceless.”

“Needless to say we won!” ~ Badw0IfGirl

The Best Meal He Ever Ate

“Christmas was on a Sunday. My brother is a pastor, and for our families, Sunday meant church. We decided to have our Christmas celebration (presents, the big dinner, etc) on Monday.”

“For Sunday dinner, I was making a huge lasagna (Monday’s feast would be the traditional turkey with all the fixings). We were staying in the area for a short time before relocating for my husband’s military assignment, so we didn’t know many people.”

“My brother called me and told me that a sick elderly woman named Jean (who used to attend the church and whom he frequently visited) was at home, very near death, and her husband (Al) was keeping vigil by her side, with the hospice nurse coming by daily to administer pain meds. The woman had been a faithful church member when she was younger, before the cancer, but her husband was known to be a cantankerous old grump who had never darkened the door of the church.”

“My brother asked if, since I was making this big lasagna, would I make a smaller pan for Al. Of course. My husband and I started planning, and I called Al to arrange to stop by and drop the lasagna off on our way to church. This was all quite sudden; it was Christmas Eve early afternoon.”

“Al answered the phone, and I introduced myself as his wife’s pastor’s sister. My brother had told Al to expect our call and told Al that we were new to the area, and that my husband was in the Navy, just as a sort of introduction. I told Al that I was making a lasagna and would like to bring it by in the morning.”

“Well, Al exploded. ‘You’re making a what?’, he yelled. ‘A lasagna’, I repeated. ‘An Italian pasta dish with meat and sauce and cheese’.”

“Al shouted and I held the phone away from my ear. ‘I thought that preacher guy said your husband was in the Navy. Is he a Nazi? I don’t want any %($)@ Mexican food. It’s Christmas, for (@(#’s sake. Why are you asking to make me Mexican Nazi food?’”

“I was stunned. Mexican? Nazi? That’s quite a stretch from lasagna. I didn’t know what to say.”

“Then Al spoke, sternly, spitting out every word. ‘I want a turkey dinner. And gravy. And it better have NO LUMPS. And cranberry sauce. The kind with NO LUMPS. And carrots. The ones cut into round shapes, cooked nice and soft. [my husband silently mouthed to me ‘with NO LUMPS’ and I almost lost it at that point]. And mashed potatoes. With NO LUMPS. You can come at 9 tomorrow morning. GOOD BYE!’ and he slammed the phone down.”

“I looked at my husband, my red-haired Navy husband, and just said ‘Mexican? Nazi? No lumps? A whole turkey dinner? What did we just get into?’ It was now 3 pm Christmas eve.”

“We ran to the car and drove to the supermarket which was closing at 5 pm. There were no turkeys. None. We frantically scanned aisles, and at one point we considered buying frozen tv dinners and re-constructing them to pretend they were homemade.”

“But we couldn’t bring ourselves to do that. This would be Al’s last Christmas, last dinner with his wife of almost 60 years.”

“Then, in the corner of the meat department, I saw a little package among the beef roasts. Could it be a turkey? It had that familiar yellow packaging. Someone must have picked it up, then set it down far from the poultry.”

“It was as if an angel was guarding it. It was a fresh, not frozen, 3 pound hotel-cut turkey breast! I grabbed it like it was a fumbled football that I had to pounce on.”

“A quick run around the store like we were in a race followed, and we soon had potatoes, carrots, jellied cranberry sauce, and sadly, a jar of gravy which we would ordinarily never use, but as my husband kept hissing into my ear every ten seconds ‘no lumps!’ we settled for jarred gravy.”

“The two of us were giggling like fools. We found a nice silver-colored plastic serving tray, and some inexpensive serving bowls that didn’t look like cheap plastic storage tubs, and a pretty little votive candle. Then we raced home to cook.”

“At 9 the next morning, we showed up to Al and Jean’s home, with a tray bearing a beautiful roasted turkey breast, a dish of gravy (LUMP-FREE), mashed potatoes (NO LUMPS), nicely sliced cranberry sauce, perfectly sliced carrots cooked soft and drizzled with butter, a Christmas cookie, and the candle.”

“Al glanced at everything and said not one single word, not even ‘hello’. I asked if I could see Jean, and he nodded. Jean was laying in a rented hospital bed, seemingly unaware of everything, breathing quietly. I set the votive candle (unlit, but in a pretty container) next to her bed and whispered ‘merry Christmas Jean’ and quietly left.”

“Al said nothing. His expression was mean and sneering. He stared at my husband, and I’m sure he was wondering how this handsome man in a United States Navy uniform somehow thought that Mexican Nazi food would be appropriate for Christmas.”

“Al’s eyes narrowed as he suspiciously looked us both over. We told him goodbye and left in fear before he could inspect the meal for lumps. Al had not muttered one single syllable.”

“We heard nothing more, as shortly after that we moved to another Navy base. But about three months later, I got a phone call from a lady who attended the church.”

“She told me ‘I just had the strangest thing happen. I ran into Al at the hardware store. What a mean man he is. But I felt sorry for him and I greeted him’.”

“‘I don’t know if you heard, but Jean died shortly after midnight on Christmas, and Al has been a recluse in the house since then. But he had an errand to do, and when I expressed my condolences, he told me the strangest story. He said that “that preacher” (my brother) asked someone to make him a Christmas dinner’.”

“He said the preacher told him it was his sister, but she’s married to some Mexican and that the dinner was going to be some kind of Nazi food. I thought Al was crazy, but then he described the meal that he got’.”

“‘He remembered everything—the perfect turkey, the smooth gravy and potatoes, the sliced carrots just the way he liked them. And then, his face softened and the mean ugly sneer disappeared’.”

“‘And quietly, without a single curse word, he leaned over and whispered to me: “it was the best meal I ever had, and I ate it beside Jean’s bed and I told her how everything tasted. And I sat there until she died. I don’t know who made it, but that preacher said it was his sister. He’s a liar. But it was the best dinner I ever ate”‘.”

“The woman continued ‘I know you and your husband made the meal, because at the funeral, your brother told me that you had brought a meal to Al the day Jean died. I have no idea where he got the idea you’re married to a Mexican Nazi, but I thought you’d want to know that it was the best Christmas meal ever’.” ~ eb04

May this year bring the happiest of holiday memories for you and yours.

October 4, 2021

People Who’ve Taken A DNA Test Share The Biggest Family Secrets They’ve Uncovered

The human story is an impossibly long and yet relatively short period of history. And most humans are met with an insatiable desire to figure out their purpose in life—something sometimes their past can shed a light on.

In our infinite curiosity, we’ve updated technology to the point we can now trace our very own DNA back generations and find members of our extended family from all around the world.

However, digging up our genealogy can unearth some secrets we may have never wanted to hear.

So, when Redditor VideoFork asked:

“People who have taken an ancestry DNA test and accidentally uncovered a family secret, what was it?”

People shared their stories from inception to thrilling conclusion.

Deceptive Parents

“Not my story, but someone very close to me discovered that none of the ethnic background that they were expecting was present in the results.”

“This person, whose father was deceased at the time, questioned their mother. The mother admitted that the person’s father was not biological as they believed their entire life (they were older than 40).”

“The mother gave the name of the biological father. My friend then found the biological father, contacted him, and then discovered that they had several 1/2 siblings.”

“The biological father was unaware he had another child and accepted my friend into his family as did the siblings.”-galtsgulch232

“My bio-dad left his family and two daughters in Washington and married my mom in Los Angeles 5 weeks later.”

“I found his first marriage certificate but nothing about a divorce. I’m pretty sure he was a bigamist.”-khegiobridge

“I have an uncle that was put up for adoption. He contacted my grandma and she thought he was going to extort her (they’re well off). Turns out he’s a multi, multi millionaire on his own.”

“They still have limited contact, though my dad has reached out and formed a relationship.”

“Apparently they look exactly alike and have the same personality (which sounds kind of stupid now that I’m writing it out, but they’re only half-siblings).”-RolandDPlaneswalker

New And Nearby

“I exported my raw DNA from 23andme and threw it through promethease to find out why I have porphyria, which is supposed to be hereditary.”

“My mom and dad are definitely my mom and dad, but neither of them have this, which means it was environmental exposure that caused it.”

“Discovered a rare AMPD enzyme deficiency in mom, found out dad carried a recessive LUPUS gene and gave it to my sister. DNA is WILD.”-djspacebunny

“A woman over in Chicago decided to find out who her real parents were. She was getting close to 60 and realized that there may not be much time left to find her father.”

“So through the magic of ancestry she was matched to my grandfather.”

“She reached out to him and told him who her mother was. He didn’t recognize the name but dug up his little black book and lo and behold…there she was.”

“So now I’ve got a new aunt!”-dazeyd

“My male cousin did one and found a female cousin we did not know about. He reached out to her and apparently our deceased uncle was good friends with her mother.”

“Mom wanted a baby so uncle got her pregnant simply as a sperm donor.”

“Female cousin lived a few blocks away from my grandmother. She had met her a few times going around selling Girl Scout cookies or something.”

“My grandmother had no idea that she was buying cookies from her granddaughter.”-OrangeTree81

A New Extension Of Family

“Not me, but a friend never knew who his father was (mom had a weekend fling in college and never contacted the guy after) and his wife helped him use ancestry.com to try and track him down.”

“My friend reached out and the guy was obviously surprised, but flew across the country to meet him.”

“They have a great relationship now, the dad attended his wedding, and they try to get their families together a couple times a year or so.”-djsquidnasty

“A full 100% older brother. My mother got pregnant by my father before the were married. Scandalous in 1960.”

“So, with my father’s knowledge of the situation, mom left town, and lived with my aunt until the birth. Mom gave the baby up for adoption, and then returned home.”

“A couple years later, she married my dad and had three more children together, including me.”

“Fifty five years later, after both my parents had died, my aunt let it slip that me and my siblings that were not the only children of our parents.”

“To paraphrase from Star Wars, there is another. My sister took a DNA test, and a couple of year later she got a hit. Soon thereafter, we met our new big brother and his family (wife, kids) and have become quite close.”-Freeagnt

“My great gran (who I knew) was an orphaned live in servant in Greenock, Scotland in 1900, got pregnant by her employer, kicked out, ended up in the poorhouse where she abandoned the baby.”

“DNA turned up the granddaughter of the baby. Met her in Glasgow a couple of years ago. She turned up as a cousin via DNA.”-TheRealMommaG

A Life-Changing Secret

“So, I did the health DNA one 18 months ago because I wanted to see if I had the breast cancer gene, as there is several incidences on both sides of my family.”

“Got my results and became very confused, it claimed I had no Italian despite my father’s grandma literally coming over from Sicily in 1920. It took me a few minutes to realize what that actually meant.”

“My parents have been together since my mother was 14, I was born when she was 17, and my father joined the military and married my mother.”

“Called my mom and she literally said ‘that’s interesting.’ Then she asked me not to talk to my father and she would explain everything the next time I visited. She did not, and just refused i talk about it.”

“Honestly, I was just shook. I did not see it coming and it was never even presented to be a possibility to me. My sister ended up doing a DNA test and it showed that we were half siblings.”

“I went no contact with my mother 4 months ago, due to this incident and several others. I haven’t told my dad but I realize at some point the truth is going to come out, my sister matched with some of my fathers relatives while I did not so if anyone checks that sh*t, they’re gonna be asking questions.”-sunshineykris

“That my grandmother was biracial. She was abandoned shortly after birth at a church by an older white lady, adopted by a white farmer with 11 kids, stopped talking to most of that family due to nondescript unpleasantness as an older teen.”

“She died 20 years before I was born and looks like Maya Rudolph in the few photos I’ve seen but insisted she was part-Sicilian.”

“My father and his brother both look more white than not; my father worshipped the ground she walked on and never questioned her ancestry.”

“My uncle was always pretty sure she was Black and argued with her a lot (both dad and uncle ended up being super active in the civil rights movement and still are devoted to antiracism work nearly 60 years on, which largely stemmed from these discussions growing up).”

“Anyway, my mom (divorced from my dad) got me a DNA test a few years ago. My grandmother was definitely half-Black, I have no Sicilian or Italian DNA.”

“I’ve connected with a few Black distant cousins over email and zoom, am waiting for the pandemic to mostly end to talk to my dad about it and introduce him to more family.”-ReddishWedding2018

“Not me, but a friend. My friend (34F[emale]) decided to get her twin sister and parents a DNA testing kit for Christmas.”

“When her parents opened the gift they looked at each other and said ‘Oh…thanks.’ They quickly tried to move on to other presents. My friend was slightly confused, but dropped it.”

“Later they went for their Christmas Day walk. The mom and sister were walking ahead while she walked with her dad. Her dad spilled the beans! Her and her sister were adopted.”

“The mother looked back and started crying – she couldn’t believe her husband told her daughter without them talking about it first. They were going to keep it a secret forever.”

“She had never suspected she or her sister were adopted because they look a lot like their parents. They are also very short, as are their parents. Whoops!”-hyggelady

With new technology comes great opportunities. However, this is a clear case of “be careful what you wish for.”

Not everyone finds out that their whole life is a lie, but still-an opportunity to trace your heritage is not something to take lightly.

Be prepared for it if you decide to do so.

July 24, 2021

These Fathers-in-Law Are Really Pushing It

I don’t know why we use the terms “father in law” or “mother in law” when referring to the parents of our spouses, but if I had to guess, we call them Father in Laws because, by and large, it takes the full force of the law and government for us to begrudgingly admit that we are sort of family.

At least, I think that’s how the people who made these Reddit posts feel. They say you can’t choose your family, but they rarely get into the headache of choosing someone you SUPER love and then having to deal with dummies like this as a bonus.

Prepare the FIL cringe.

14. Getting warmer

“The planet isn’t warming because it’s currently cold where I live. Also, I’m not ageing because my foot doesn’t hurt right now.”

My father in law. I’m mortified. from facepalm

13. The dad test

Oh man, are those grass-stained sneakers and everything?

Got a new couch delivered today. Father-in-law decided to test it out. from mildlyinfuriating

12. Never go away

Weird how many people with absolutely no medical training became the world’s foremost disease experts in 2020.

My FIL response to me and my pregnant Fiancée decisions to not see them due to Corona. from insaneparents

11. Baby doll

In all seriousness dude, what are you afraid is going to happen?
He might build empathy skills and learn how to care for a child?

My sister’s father-in-law, who is a very conservative trump supporter, was not happy that she bought her son a baby doll for Christmas. from insaneparents

10. “The Park”

Let’s play touch the bench!

My father in law said there is a park on the apartment complex for the kids to play. This is the park. from pics

9. Stay safe

Screen protectors I would highly recommend, but not like this. Never like this.

My father-in-law’s adamant refusal to remove the protective film from the tablet he received last Christmas. from mildlyinfuriating

8. Raw chicken

Hey there, salmonella.

My FIL thinks it’s a good idea to soak raw chicken in my wooden salad bowl from facepalm

7. Making the cut

How is he not in prison?

The way my father in law cuts his sandwiches. from mildlyinfuriating

6. Dig in

Did he use the knife or just bite it?

This is how my father-in-law gets butter for his toast from mildlyinfuriating

5. Got milk?

Cause you’re not gonna for long.

How my soon-to-be father in-law opens the milk carton. from mildlyinfuriating

4. Biohazard

Dang, son.

Cleaned my FIL’s biohazard while hes in hospital from trashy

3. An insult and a challenge!

When your religion reaches “yelling about dinosaurs” levels, it’s time to turn back.

My FIL is a non-denominational Christian preacher. He mails us his self-made religious flyers every couple of weeks. He really outdid himself this time. from religiousfruitcake

2. Safety first

What an adorable way to needlessly endanger yourself and your spouse.

In my FIL’s car so he and his partner can drive without seatbelts and the car wont make the alarm sounds from IdiotsInCars

1. Smart for one day

This isn’t even wrong.

My poor FIL never saw it coming. RIP. from MurderedByWords

Father in laws. Can’t live with ’em, can’t legally get rid of them.

But what about your FIL? How do you feel about him?

Tell us in the comments.

The post These Fathers-in-Law Are Really Pushing It appeared first on UberFacts.

July 22, 2021

People Talk About the Perks They Enjoyed as Kids Because of What Their Parents Did for a Living

When I was young, my dad had awesome hookups for tickets for sporting events.

We went to hockey games, baseball games, and even a few football games.

It was great!

And I think we can agree that we all had SOME kind of perk because of what our mom and/or dad did for a living.

Let’s see what these folks had to say about this!

1. Sounds like a good deal.

Cokes for days!

What perks did you enjoy as a kid bc of your parents jobs? My parents ran a computing company and they had a huge computer with a very primitive couple of games I’d play. They also has a coke machine on the honor system and I drank those all the time.

— scott cunningham (@causalinf) May 14, 2021

2. Pretty cool!

Heaven for a kid.

My dad was in the Air Force, and I had a charmed childhood of being able to ride my bike all over base from a really young age because the base was basically a huge gated community – ice cream shop, movie theater, pool, all of my friends.

— Rebecca Fordon (@theFordon) May 15, 2021

3. Bring on the candy!

A dream come true.

My dad sold coffee, so not a lot of kid-friendly freebies. Except he’d go to all the food tradeshows, and trade coffee for candy with all the candy booths, then bring it home for us and it was *glorious*.

— Don’t believe the hyperbole (@Mikevago) May 14, 2021

4. A good perk.

You thanked him later.

Dad was a painting contractor and worked out deal with the local private school to paint the whole building every summer in exchange for sending us there. 15 years total he did this.

— with JustANobody() as rick: (@rickyteachey) May 14, 2021

5. Meeting celebs.

Ice-T for the win!

Dad briefly had a limo company in the early 90s. I got to meet Queen Latifah, Will Smith and Ice-T. I work in the concert industry, so my Kiddo has been backstage and ran into (sometimes literally) all kinds of artists since she was 5. She’ll realize how cool I am one day.

— Demon Time Scheduling Manager (@ItsMeYorkie) May 14, 2021

6. Best of both worlds.

Which one is better?

My dad was a psychiatrist so i got free psychotherapy 24/7. My mom sold tupperware and for years and years i have had the world’s best pancake warm-keeper ever designed. I love pancakes. pic.twitter.com/vfWNknHL57

— John P de New (@DeNewJohn) May 14, 2021

7. Those fees are waived.

Racking up the late fees.

My mom was a librarian. So I never had to pay any late fees for overdue books. pic.twitter.com/i3HWGAwjQf

— Aaron Wudrick (@awudrick) May 15, 2021

8. Very cool!

Major bragging rights.

Uhhh my dad worked above a place that programmed Nintendo games and I got to play Mike Tysons Power Punch and the Bill and Ted game before they were released

— Ed Goofup, Jr. (@theschwasound) May 14, 2021

9. Perfect desserts.

Right off the assembly line.

Dad was a mechanic at the Pillsbury mill and plant; he brought home cakes and brownies from the test kitchen as often as he could. Perfect brownies wrapped in white wax paper closed up with masking tape.

— Sassbeard Thee Pyrate (@Sassbeard) May 14, 2021

10. Life in the firehouse.

I bet that was quite an adventure.

My father & 4 uncles were NYC firefighters. We hung out in firehouses, climbed on the trucks, slid down the fire pole & played w/ dogs, who’d often been abandoned at the firehouses, b/c it is a truth universally acknowledged that a dog left at a firehouse will be loved.

— Kathleen Donohoe (@KathleenDonohoe) May 15, 2021

11. Way back in the ’70s.

You could get away with a lot more back then.

I drove around the tunnels of O’Hare airport in a golf cart and went in control tower as a kid in the 70s before security concerns!

— Maura of the Mountains (@mboCOfoco) May 15, 2021

Did you enjoy any perks when you were growing up because of your mom or dad’s job?

Talk to us in the comments!

We’d love to hear from you!

The post People Talk About the Perks They Enjoyed as Kids Because of What Their Parents Did for a Living appeared first on UberFacts.

July 18, 2021

Memes for People Who Really Know the Truth About Siblings

I have two sisters – I’m right in the middle actually. One two years older, one two years younger.

We were home a lot and naturally I wanted people to play with, but I quickly discovered that I did everything wrong. Specifically, I played Barbies wrong. I’m still not sure to this day what the correct way of Barbi-ing is, this remains an eternal mystery I don’t hold much hope of cracking, but I know that however *I* was doing it was definitely not correct, and I was thus usually expelled from play sessions pretty quickly.

And that’s just how it goes when you have siblings. You can’t do anything right, but you can’t do anything too wrong either. These memes know what’s up.