- I grew up thinking my father abandoned me and my mom. But years later, far into adulthood, I learned from my grandma that my mom left my dad and didn’t allow him to see me so she could get money from him. To this day, I still don’t have a relationship with him.
- My grandpa cheated on my grandma with her sister. Allegedly, a child came from that affair, but my grandpa never claimed him.
I found this out when my dad died, and I saw a picture of my dad, his siblings, and a “cousin.” I said, “Wow! He looks just like you guys. He’s definitely kin.”
One of my uncles was like, “Yeah, he might be our brother.”
- I always knew I was adopted as an infant. When I was 26, I received an anonymous letter in the mail containing my original birth certificate and a card from my sister’s funeral. I grew up knowing her as a cousin.
It turns out my great-uncle adopted me. My “aunt” is actually my grandmother, and my mother is my “cousin.” When I was young, we often visited my (great-)grandparents, who lived about four hours away. My biological parents lived next to my grandparents—which meant I saw them regularly and played with my full brother and sister, but had no idea at the time.
- In high school, I applied for a scholarship and got a full ride to a state university. I thanked my counselor, who helped with my paperwork. Four years later, I got a letter saying my scholarship never existed.
Turns out my older brother had been paying my tuition anonymously. He’d dropped out of college himself and never told anyone. He made up the paperwork to make it seem legit. He didn’t want me to feel guilty.
I cried harder than I did at graduation. I offered to pay him back. He said, “Just do better than I did.”
- It was our fifth wedding anniversary, and he left his phone downstairs. He says now that he knew, and that’s why he ran down once he realized that he had left it. But he had had videos of my closet—my designer bags and luxury items—videotaped by him, and offering all of my belongings up to women he was seeing.
That night, he left, and two $100 bills were missing, along with a Prada bag I’ve never seen again. He had a Snapchat story up, and was gone for only about an hour and a half because I waited up after nursing our newborn.
I was done. Seeing his hand go through my clothes, my stuff… showing a stranger… it was so shocking. I was disgusted.
- When I was a kid, my dad cheated on my mother and had a kid with the new woman who would become my stepmom. I went over occasionally and never paid it much mind, but my “sister” had blond hair her entire life. My dad said it was because he had blond hair as a kid.
Fast-forward 10 years, and surprise—she more than likely wasn’t carrying his child. Big surprise that the woman you cheated on your wife with wasn’t faithful either, huh?
- My grandma lost her wedding ring in 2009. She searched for it for months, heartbroken.
Last year, she passed away. While cleaning out her house, we found a small box inside the air vent. It had the ring, plus a letter.
She had hidden it herself after finding out my grandpa had cheated in 1987. She never confronted him. Said she didn’t want to break the family. But she also never wore the ring again.
I kept the letter. No one else knows.
- A cousin informed me that I have a long-lost sister my parents had given up for adoption before they got married. We’ve actually connected now, but I was 50 years old when I found out.
- I had always felt like the odd one out in my family. I didn’t look like my siblings, didn’t share many interests. But I worked hard, and graduation day finally came. At the ceremony, they called my name, and my family erupted louder than anyone else’s.
Afterward, my mom pulled me aside and gave me a letter. She said I was adopted, and they never told me because they didn’t want me to feel “other.” She said love, not blood, had always made me theirs.
- My grandma found out a few years ago that her dad doubled up and had two children with another woman. This absolute joker named the kids the exact same names as my gran and her brother, so he never had to worry about mixing up names.
Some people find themselves in situations so strange, disturbing, or unbelievable, they could easily make front-page news. Like the 13 short stories we have here.
