People on their deathbed must want a clean slate for transitioning into the afterlife, because it is there on which truths are revealed.
Watching a loved one slowly slipping away is indisputably one of the hardest rites of passage to witness.
However, there can be room for the slightest bit of levity when they finally have something they’ve been wanting to get off their chest.
What they impart could potentially change one’s perception of them forever.
Curious to hear some of the memorable things strangers online heard someone on their deathbed say, Redditor random_guy_somewhere asked:
“People who have heard deathbed confessions, what were some interesting ones?”
These final moments were far from peaceful but make for great stories.
A Sinister Confession
“My grandma confessed to murder on her deathbed. Usually you’d think it was the pain relief, but she was such an eccentric it was actually believable.”
“We traced all her ex-husbands, partners and any other likely candidates and fortunately no one was missing or died an untimely death, but sometimes I wonder…” – NotAnEarthwormYet
A Broken Tradition
“Not my story but that of a hospice worker who spoke to my class. For those who don’t know, hospice is a method of end-of-life care that focuses on alleviating the emotional & physical pain of a dying person to ease their passing rather than combatting their imminent death.”
“One of her patients was a bed-bound woman in her 90s who was generally unresponsive but had flashes of recognition & engagement. It’s hard to gauge the level to which unresponsive patients are detached from their surroundings, so they encourage family members to keep their company in hopes of soothing the patient.”
“Now this patient was from a U.S. state that prided itself on its state university (and the university’s football team). The woman’s family had attended this university for four or five generations.”
“During her hospice care, however, her great-granddaughter was the first in their family to decide to go to a different school—the rival state’s university, in fact. Her family was supportive of her decision but often joked about her being the ‘rebel’ or ‘Judas’ or what-have-you.”
“One day, they were all sitting around the woman’s bedside, teasing the girl about her decision. Suddenly, the patient sat up, looked at her great-granddaughter, said, ‘Traitor,’ and f’king DIED.” – scatteringbones
The following confessions were bold enough to elicit a chuckle.
Last-Minute Truths
“My grandpa, a Sicilian man with blessed cooking skills, told us on his deathbed that his meatballs were actually frozen meatballs from the grocery store.” – orangestar17
An Experimental Past
“My grandfather admitted to me and only me that he “accidentally” had sex with a man.” – Aggravating_Fish_169
Why Owls?
“I have an amazing one:”
“My great grandmother lived a very long and interesting life. She was in her 20s in the great depression. She had a wild streak from those days that we don’t know much about, to the point that we actually don’t know our great grandfather’s name. Just the husband she took later.”
“Over the course of her nearly 100 year life, she had collected owls. Literally thousands of owl figurines. She had clocks, wall-hangings, potholders, lamps, stained glass art, salt shakers, and more little figurines than you could imagine, all depicting owls.”
“We all wondered the importance of the owls. She never talked about them, we just all knew she loved owls.”
“Well, when she was nearing death, at the age of 98 or 99, and the docs said she had days, my grandparents went and talked to her and they asked her if she had anything she wanted to share or ask before she goes.”
“She thought for a moment, then said, ‘I never understood the owls.’”
“It turns out, she didn’t really give a sh*t about owls. Near as we could piece together sometime in the 40s or 50s perhaps, she bought either a trivet or a set of salt/pepper shakers that were owls. Then someone got her the other.”
“Those were the oldest owls anyone could remember. But from there, someone got her an owl to match, probably a potholder or place mat. And all the sudden her kitchen was owl themed. From there, it snowballed. The owls flowed like wine, baffling her for 60 years, eventually taking over as the bulk of her personal belongings.”
“The moral is: if you’re not actually into something, mention it early.”
These tender, poignant moments are sure to stay with these Redditors forever.
A Proud Parent
“My dad had Alzheimer’s and ended up in a secure ward. He was blind and almost deaf. I was visiting him one day. He didn’t know who I was, but he started talking about me.”
“He said I had done better than him in life and that he was proud of me. He was a quiet man IRL and never told me that when I was growing up.”
“Looking back, he did things that my dumb ass never realised were for me. Like, when he retired his colleagues asked what he’d like as a present. He chose a scientific calculator (this was back in the 1970’s).”
“He had no use for it. He gave it to me for university. I thought he was just passing it on, not realising that he’d asked for it with me in mind.” – LactatingWolverine
The Favorite
“I don’t know if this counts as a confession but it felt like one.”
“My grandparents have three daughters. Everyone always said that my mom was my grandfather’s secret favorite. He never agreed.”
“I heard he was on his death bed on April 6th. Went to see him on April 8th. He was scary looking and the doctor kept saying he didn’t understand why he wasn’t dead yet.”
“April 9th everyone but my mom had the chance to come and say goodbye. She doesn’t drive and my dad works 10 hours away. My grampa kept saying her name (well, saying.. he couldn’t eat or drink so it was more like a whisper).”
“My mom came by on the 10th. He looked at her.. smiled.. whispered ‘my amy.’”
“He closed his eyes and never opened them again.” – DoctorWhoTheF**k
Ready To Go
“When I was in hospital, the guy in the bed next to me just asked to stop taking his meds as he was ready to die. Last thing I heard him say was ‘There’s no one waiting for me at home, so I’m going where they are.’”
“Wasn’t really a shocking confession, just a lonely and heartbreaking one.” – DanHero91
Deathbed confessions are overrated, I say.
These intriguing anecdotes are a good reminder to ask questions and share as much about yourself to anyone, regardless of their age, while they’re still around.
I would never want to regret not having known a person well or vice versa before one of us expires.
We never know how much time we have with a person we hold near and dear to our hearts.