"I Need To Get This Off My Chest"
Sometimes there are things that really weigh on us—but there’s no possible way to tell anyone about them. When you just need to get something off your chest, there’s nothing like the anonymity of the Internet.
These confessions just had to come out—and they go from heartwarming to absolutely heartbreaking.
1. My Secret Identity
My birth mom had me when she was 14, and I was given up for adoption. My parents told me about her growing up. I still have the letter she wrote me, which she said they could give to me if they wanted.
It’s crazy reading it sometimes and knowing it was a literal child who wrote it.
It says she’s sorry she couldn’t be my mommy but she hopes I’m happy. She was open to having contact but we moved for my dad’s job when I was 11 and then it seemed impossible to find her. But luckily…I did. I still can't believe what I'm doing. She’s working at this small restaurant and I keep going but she doesn’t know it’s me. We talk sometimes.
She seems like a nice lady. Sometimes when she says something like “Do you want a refill, honey” or uses another term like that, I wanna tell her. I don’t know why it makes me nervous. We talk sometimes and she seems really genuine.
If it’s not super busy she’s more open to talking about random stuff.
I literally drive two hours to come eat at this place just to see her. And it’s like she knows me already because I’m there once or twice a week for the past three months so she always says hi with a big smile. But man…if only she knew.
2. Sink Or Swim
Today is the two-year anniversary of losing my dad. I am staying with my grandparents on my dad’s side right now because, long story short, after my dad’spassing,my mom started seeing a guy who, in my opinion, clearly prefers my brother, and mom’s new boyfriend and I can’t live in the same house. I love my mom but I’m old enough now for her to respect my decision to live with my grandparents for the summer.
Today was an emotional day, of course. My grandmom is very sentimental and recently she has been putting together photo albums, one of my dad, one of his brother, of me, and of my brother.
Today my grandmom and I were looking through the one of my dad, the bulk of which is photos of him as a kid/teen when he lived with my grandparents.
It however, it has a few more recent photos. One of these recent photos caught my attention. See I have a type of epilepsy that gives me these occasional “jerks” or spasms in my arms and legs.
Because of this I’ve never been able to go in water so I never learned to swim. Despite this we went to the beach a lot as a family.
The photo that stood out to me was one of my dad in his 20s, so a bit before I was born, treading water in the ocean, clearly very deep in.
My grandmother told me that his brother took the photo when the two of them and their then-girlfriends went cliff diving. I said, but I didn't think dad could swim? That’s when I learned the heartbreaking truth. She was confused and said of course he could, did I really think he was the kind of person to not know how to swim? But here’s the thing—for as long as I can remember, on our frequent family visits to the beach, my dad had told me he couldn’t swim as he was scared of the water so could I keep him company on the beach?
This had been great for me of course, as I didn’t want to be alone while my mom and brother went swimming, and we would find other games and things to do while they were in the ocean.
To be honest it had always seemed silly to me that he was scared of water. He was a marathon runner and generally a very sporty person who grew up in California so I didn’t get why he never just learned.
But now I realize that of course he could swim. He knew I didn’t want to be a liability because of my condition, and that if I thought he wanted to go I would tell him to go without me and leave me behind, so he told me he couldn’t swim.
He didn’t think I’d ever find out what a nice thing he was doing for me and yet he still did it every time. Especially today, that sent me over the edge. Thank you dad.
3. The Truth Always Comes Out
I was 21 when my fiancé asked me to marry him. He was the absolute light of my life. We had known each other since pre-school, our families are very close. He would come and have dinner with us on a daily basis and vice versa.
He doesn't have any siblings but I have two older sisters, which is very important as he was also very close with them.
We grew up together. When we started dating, I don't think our parents stopped celebrating for weeks.
He helped me deal with a lot of my anxiety and even when I gained a little weight and my mother berated me saying he was going to leave me, he told her off and said he loved me for who I was, not for what I looked like, even though he claimed I was the most beautiful girl in the world to him.
We were only engaged for 6 months. Then the horrific incident happened. My middle oldest sister, let’s call her Nicky, was a very cold person. She never showed any affection, and she only ever opened up to my fiancé as she said she saw him as a brother and he also helped her through a lot of her dark times such as battling addiction.
She and I never saw eye-to-eye; I loved her dearly because she was my sister but didn't like her as a person.
Out of the blue she tells me she wants to take me clubbing as we had never been together before and she felt bad that she was so distant with me. I agreed and that night we went out.
Clubbing wasn't really my style but once I had a few drinks, I loosened up a little and began having fun. The night was going smoothly until Nicky spotted a guy across the room who she claimed she wanted to "climb like a tree"
She walked over to him and within a few minutes she was back and she had a sour expression on her face.
I asked her what was up but she never said anything. I kept pressing because I didn’t want our night to be ruined, she then told me the guy didn't want her number but he wanted mine instead.
I told her he was a loser and there were plenty of guys around who would love to be with a girl like her. She didn't budge though.
She told me she needed to use the restroom and then we would leave. I waited for other an hour, during this time I was sipping on a lot of different cocktails, I then started feeling really dizzy and lightheaded.
I figured I'd just cab it home as I was certain Nicky had left.
On the way out, I bumped into a friend of Nicky's whom she had briefly dated. He asked me If I needed a hand to my car and I explained I was getting a cab. He said he was getting ready to leave and we could share one.
I told him okay and we walked out of the club together and into the first cab we saw. I tried to find my phone in my purse but I felt myself getting dizzier and dizzier.
I don't remember what happened next as I blacked out, and the next morning I woke up on a hard sofa, my head pounding.
When I came to, I realized I was in Nicky's friend’s house and my phone was sitting on the glass table in front of me, but the battery was depleted.
When he noticed I was awake, he offered some tablets and water and explained that I had passed out in the cab and he didn’t remember my parents' address so he just picked me up and took me back here where he laid me on the sofa.
I told him I needed to go home as my fiancé would be worried. He called a cab and I left. When I arrived at my parents’ house, my mother, father, Nicky, my fiancé, and his parents were all standing in the living room. What happened next has haunted me ever since. I thought they were worried about me but the instant I opened my mouth, my fiancé asked how could I do this to him?
I tried to explain that my phone went flat but he then went on screaming about how could I cheat on him. I was baffled. Why would he think that? I tried to explain the night’s events but I kept getting cut off.
Nicky then chimed in and said I was a liar and how could I be so heartless to a man who has been there for me through thick and thin.
She went on to say I kept flirting with random guys all night and then when she went to the bathroom, she saw me leave with her friend.
I told her what had happened and she showed me photos on her phone where as we were leaving, his hand was on my back ushering me outside.
Yes the photo did look horrible and I was soinebriatedI didn't even realize his hand was on my back at all. My fiancé was so angry, he kept shouting and his mom and mine were both crying. I then asked Nicky to call her friend and he would confirm nothing happened. But when she called him, he told a completely different story.
He said I begged him to take me back to his and when he did, we slept together multiple times. That’s when I made a disturbing realization. I saw red and started crying and yelling at Nicky because I knew she had organized this whole thing to make me look bad. I begged my fiancé to believe me, but he just shook his head and left.
When everyone had cleared out, my mother slapped me across the face and told me to get out. I left and went to a friend’s house where I stayed for a few nights.
During those nights I called my fiancé crying and pleading with him to believe me that nothing happened but it all fell on deaf ears as he never returned any of my calls or texts.
My mom texted me and told me she was kicking me out and that she couldn’t believe I would do such a thing and a lot of hurtful other things I don't think I could repeat here.
She didn't even give me time to get my things as she threw everything out. I was now homeless. None of my family would take me in, as they chose my fiancé and mother's side.
I was homeless and single in less than a day and a half. My entire world had been taken away because of Nicky's lies. Now for weeks I tried everything to get my fiancé back and my family.
The limit for me though was when Christmas time had come and I went over to my mother’s house to try and reconcile.
I was sleeping from couch to couch during this time. When I got to my parents’ house, I knocked on the door but no one answered.
My friend then called me and told me she just saw on Facebook that my family were in another state celebrating Christmas and they had posted pictures online.
Everyone was there. My sisters, parents, grandparents and even my fiancé and his family. When I saw the photos, I couldn't stop crying as they all looked so happy. I cried for days and days before deciding to block them all. I even returned my engagement ring. Then I came up with a plan. My friend knew someone a couple of hours away who was looking for some help in his restaurant and he even had living arrangements above where he worked so I could get rent at a cheap price and work at the same time.
I wanted to start over with my life as it hurt me that no one took my side and they all left me to fend for myself. I was able to move pretty quickly and was doing well.
The apartment was tiny and I had to work 10+ hours almost every day, but I was able to save a lot of money.
I’m not living in the apartment anymore, I was able to rent a much nicer condo but I am still working at the restaurant as assistant manager.
Now it has been roughly two years since I left and I have not spoken to any of my family. I have no idea what is going with them—until I got a knock on my door. It was my ex-fiancé. I was shocked to say the least. All these feelings came rushing back and all I wanted to do was jump into his arms.
But then I remembered the pain I had felt and tried to slam the door in his face. He stopped it and asked that I let him explain.
He said that Nicky had gotten married and she had confessed that she lied about the situation because she had found someone she loved so much and realized what a horrible thing she had done.
I asked him how he found me and he said my friend told him. My entire family had been trying to get in touch with me and want to see me. I told him I needed time to see if I even wanted to have them in my life. He left and I have been a mess since.
I don't know what to do. I know I will never ever forgive Nicky, she could rot for all I care.
But it’s hard because my other family and fiancé didn't know she was lying, Still, I also felt like they abandoned me too quickly without letting me explain my side. I don't know if I should forgive them.
4. Kismet
This happened when I was 18 and in need of a heart transplant, waiting on a list. We were waiting for months. Then just like that, we got the call and it changed my life.
I was so so grateful to the donor, my mom and I even made our own letters to send to the family. However, they never wanted contact, which I respected.
This man saved my life yeah—but theirs was all heartbreak. For years I was always grateful for that sacrifice but even more now that my girlfriend and I met years later, and now we’re expecting a baby boy in August. Also because we know the whole truth now. She never talked about her brother much, so all I knew was that he’d passed years earlier.
His birthday was the other week. My girl wanted to visit his grave because they haven’t done it in a while. She opened up about his car accident, being on life support until they decided to take him off it and since he was registered as an organ donor…Well, the exact date ofhis passingis when I got called in for the heart transplant.
Me and my girlfriend decided to find out the truth because her family was grieving so much, they never looked at the letter that the recipient of her brother’s heart had sent them.
We had a long talk with her mom about this because if she’d rather not know then we’ll drop it. Her mom gave us her blessing to find out.
Luckily she never got rid of the letter—she only never got around to reading it because it was too painful. That’s how we found out that I had her brother’s heart.
It was only my first name that I mentioned, but I remembered every word I said on that letter. We cried for hours. All this time life brought us together in this crazy way and neither of us ever knew.
It’s too wild. He gave me a chance to be alive to meet the love of my life and start a family with her. I feel like the luckiest guy in the world, all thanks to him.
