52 People Share The Most Intriguing Deathbed Confessions They’ve Heard


Whether it's withholding your dark thoughts or embarrassing actions, keeping secrets is a normal part of human relationships. But so is the desire to get rid of them. After all, an open and truthful disclosure reduces stress and helps people come to terms with their behavior and sense of self. This is especially relevant in our last moments, which we want to spend in our loved ones' embrace and not obsess about our shortcomings. So when a post on r/AskReddit invited everyone to share the most memorable deathbed confessions they've heard, it received plenty of answers. Here are some of the things that were just too heavy for folks to take with them to the afterlife.


#1

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 a*s 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.

Image credits: LactatingWolverine


#2

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.

Image credits: DanHero91


#3

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 s**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.

Image credits: Fearlessleader85


#4

This isnt a confession, but I just wanted to share the last thing my grandfather said to me before he passed away due to lungcancer. I was about to go to Rome for a schooltrip and my family told me to go to set my mind on something else for a few days. Before I left I wanted to say goodbye as it was possibly the last time I could talk to him. He told me: "Have fun boy, I'll see you next week." I went to Rome and when I came back, he was already in a deep sleep due to medication. He wanted to peacefully pass away while sleeping. I came back the next week and he was sleeping when I went to visit him. I told him everything I did in Rome even though I knew he wouldn't wake up. The next morning he passed away. My grandmother said to me: "He waited for you"


I still miss him so much.

Image credits: DiabetesTijs


#5

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

Image credits: orangestar17


#6

I didn't see it, but my aunt watched her elderly mother fall down the stairs and confess just before she died that she wasn't her biological mother.


She told my aunt that her oldest sister was actually her mother. The sister had gotten pregnant too young and the mom said it was hers. A common way of handling it back then. She revealed it in her very last breath.

Image credits: usf_edd


#7

My Nana was renowned for religiously having a gin and tonic at 9pm every night. She and my Grandpa had started the tradition on the honeymoon and she continued it 20 years after his death.


On her own deathbed in the hospital we managed to sneak in a gin and tonic in a hip flask. We offered it to her, only for Nana to turn around and say "I've never really been fond of them"


Bless her, she went out laughing at us

Image credits: dontlikegrapes


#8

I worked as a night janitor in the children's cancer ward at my local hospital. There was a little boy (about 6 years old) laying in bed and he called me in to his room because he wanted help adjusting his pillow (he was hooked up with wires and stuff so he couldnt roll over to place the pillow how he wanted.) Figuring I'd be allowed to do it since a nurse wasn't really needed for it, I parked my cart outside of the room and went in.


In the room, he started asking me different questions about my job. The first being was I a nurse. I said no. He asked me if I seen his mom in the hallway and told me that she'd gone down to the cafeteria to get him strawberry milk and a donut, I said no to that to. He was quiet for a second. Then he looked me right in the face and said "If I pass away soon, I hope that my mom is not sad."


That hit me. Like really really hard. This kid was 100 percent aware that he could die and his mother would be affected by it. I didn't even know how to feel so I told him that he wasn't going to pass away and hundreds of people survive cancer (which is a big number to someone that young). I left shortly after and broke down crying in the bathroom. A few days later, I was wiping down the wooden support railings along the walls of that hallway and his room was "closed for cleaning + disinfection". That sign is only hung outside of rooms when someone dies

Image credits: anon


#9

My husband had a cardiac event that required an ambulance. As the ambulance was arriving I asked him if the code to open his phone was XXXX, he said yes, then looked up at me and said "I am so sorry".


He had successful surgery, but had several strokes on the operating table and was taken off life support after 7 days.


When I opened his phone I found out he was having an affair. The same code to his phone also opened his laptop where I found telephone recordings of he and his girlfriend, as well as screenshots of their chats.


I don't know how interesting this is, but it was certainly devastating to me.

#10

My time to shine; I worked at a hospital in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, a small town near Munich for the last 14 years. My job there is not fancy at all, I move people around, throw the trash out and occasionally I take care of some handy-like work (fix a leaking shower head and stuff like that).


As you can imagine, I get to see a lot of patients that come and go, some of them pass away (such is life, I guess). I remember a few instances of people confessing to me their biggest regrets, here are some examples:


- An old polish woman, told me that she regretted "not f*****g Hitler when she had the chance" (her words). I wanted to ask her about more context, but I was afraid to be honest.


- Another notable example was an old truck driver that used to work for an Easter Germany company, he told me that he once run over some kids with his truck and was too afraid to stop and check if they were ok.


- Once another Polish lady told me that she used to be a prostitute during 2nd World War and that she slept with "very high up" people in the government. She told me that she did not regret that part of her life, but that she could not tell anyone and that was a heavy emotional drag. She also told me that she aborted more than five babies during that time.

Image credits: lyes_about_expertise


#11

Not a deathbed confession, but the last conversation I had with my grandfather has always stuck with me. He had Parkinson’s, and lived on a farm outside of town. One day he looked at me and said “I’m getting too old to take care of Mom (my grandmother). I need you to do that for me, okay?” His health deteriorated pretty rapidly from that point onward


I still call my grandmother every single day, and try to get back home whenever I can to help out around the farm.

Image credits: PhDShouse


#12

Not really a confession but my cousin and I got into a car accident and he died. His friends got him to steal and vandalize so many things. They also put him in jail 4 different times. When we were in the hospital and he was about to die his last words were “Welp if I go to hell at least I’ll be with all my friends. I love you.”

Image credits: SensitiveLibrarian88


#13

My grandfather had pretty terrible dementia and he kept making deathbed confessions as he knew he didn’t have much time left. They were often about witnessing a murder and not telling anyone, but each time he confessed to us the details changed. It happened a couple of times a day over the course of his final week. We finally figured out that he would watch the local news and hear about these things happening then would think he had actually witnessed them.

Image credits: astrobre


#14

I may not be your real grandfather, I kidnapped your Mom when she was little.


That was a heck of a punch in the gut for sure.

#15

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*****g DIED.


Edit: Thanks for the awards! FWIW, the hospice worker said her family (eventually) thought it was hilarious. Go Bucks

Image credits: scatteringbones


#16

My grandfather admitted to me and only me that he "accidentally" had sex with a man

Image credits: Aggravating_Fish_169


#17

My partners grandfather never spoke about his WW2 service, we are Australian. He joined after lying about his name and age so we can't find any records, he would have been 16. We do know he was in the Pacific somewhere and when he got back his lie was exposed and because he was by then 18 he was drafted under his real name...and promptly arrested, he would do anything to not get sent back to fight! He got drunk, fought and self harmed.


His adult life was spent mostly as an alcoholic and being a s**t husband and father though in his later years he was able to make some good. Grandkids appearing softened him.


In his dying hours he relived his time at war. Some things he said...


Oh god they are here


The japs are behind us sir


Stab him, stab him...f*****g stick him!


Help


Medic


All around


And he also had a string of names he kept saying. Such a tortured, broken mind.

Image credits: papahet


#18

When my grandfather was on his deathbed, he told the doctor "f**k you, I ain't dying!" He fought for as long as he could, survived 4 heart attacks and god knows how many strokes, but eventually he passed. But goddamn if he wasn't an inspiration. Some days I have a hard time getting out of bed, or finding a reason to do anything. But this old coot found a reason to keep living: spite. He looked death in the face several times and said "f**k you, I'm gonna make you work for it!"


Miss ya Butch.

#19

Mother ran a nursing home growing up. From ages 5-10 I spent every weekend with residents.

Because I was a kid, residents often confessed stuff they thought I wouldn’t understand.

Two stick out. One funny, one not.


Women was dying, maybe about 96. Even had her last burst of energy/life where she thought she was “better” (this is common). A Black delivery man came with some flowers. After he left she looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, “I can’t believe I’m dying without having been with a colored man.”


Second one was while I was reading bible verses to a resident, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to drop that baby in the well.”

Image credits: anon


#20

My great aunt passed away a couple of years ago. She was suffering from viral encephalitis and fluctuated in and out of consciousness. It was truly painful to watch. Although a lot of family tended to be around her in those last days, I once happened to be alone with her when she made some fairly odd remarks (which I kept to myself since).


On the day in question I was playing games on my phone in her hospital room when she started to audibly mutter to herself. It became more urgent and intense - eventually she explicitly called me to her side. Her eyes looked huge and confused, I doubt she knew who I was. She spat out her words, most of which were barely comprehensible, putting particular emphasis on 'boy' and 'ingredient'.


I sat there for 15 minutes, listening to her erratic account of, as I finally gathered, how she sometimes used to cook eggs in the urine of a stable boy (instead of water). She insisted that he was handsomely compensated for his services, but now and then she started to cry and couldn’t stop.


I googled this weeks later, and there indeed exists a traditional 'dish' in China described in the West as *Virgin boy egg*. Apparently this concept had fascinated her and she frequently recreated this herself and served it to her family (which sometimes included my younger self) without explaining what it was. I am not sure if she felt shame or enthusiasm about this (she often stammered something about 'the secret ingredient'), but it quite obviously haunted her towards the very end of her life.

Image credits: EPIC_BOY_CHOLDE


#21

My great uncle actually confessed to having two illegitimate sons right before he kicked the bucket in front of his own children and grandchildren.


The crazy thing was that none of his children knew this life of his. Not even my great aunt knew about it because she would have made a huge fuss if she was alive at that time and knew about it.


What was crazier was that these two sons already passed away five and seven years ahead of him respectively. He was 98 years old and his “invisible” sons were 65 and 69 years old.


The children found out thay one of his invisible sons actually was a teacher at a school that his grand daughters attended when they were in high school.


Nevertheless, his children decided to reach out to the children of his invisible sons. They got connected and learned more stuff about my grand uncle.


The craziest thing was that I actually dated one of the granddaughters of one of the invisible sons (the one passed away at the aged of 69 years old).


Talking about a few degrees of separation aye!

Image credits: KuningKuningKuning


#22

Not quite a deathbed confession as my family didnt want me to see my grandma there as they were worried my memory of her being a happy and cheerful woman would be marred, and they were probably right. So I got to send her a letter which they read aloud to her. They told me that some of her last words were my name, and she passed just a few minutes after it was read to her. She managed to think of me in her last moments, despite being drugged heavily enough to knock out an elephant, and Ill always remember that about her.

Image credits: Youpunyhumans


#23

Many years ago I was working in an open heart surgery ICU and had a man in his early 40’s as my patient. He had many tattoos of demons, etc. He didn’t recover very well after his emergency heart surgery and was in a medically induced coma for about two weeks before we could wake him up and remove his breathing tube. When he finally woke up he was crying. He said I feel like I just spent an entire lifetime in hell and I’ve done horrible things in my life and I completely deserved it. He wept for hours and wanted to apologize to everyone he had ever hurt in his life.

#24

Germany, post WW2


Ruth is a young german, Feliçien, a French solider, falls head over heels - brought many thoughtful gifts, such as a big juicy ham for her family.


They marry. His family and friends are in the south of France, but they stay in Germany. He now goes by the name Felix.


They stay together, through several miscarriages, infertility. They never have children.


Ruth dies first, around 2010.


On her deathbed she tells him:


You know Felix - I always liked you, but I never loved you.


"Weisch Felix, I hän di immer gern g'habt, aber g'liebt hän i di nie."

Image credits: h2oly


#25

i was told about the layers of ego dissolving into oblivion, who you once thought you are is gone and now who you really are is exposed. told me death is an easy feat to conquer, laid back, looked me in the eyes and whispered “wow”...then died

#26

My grandfather who had not been a religious man throughout his life stated on the second to last day he was alive that in the prior few nights he was seeing beings in the bedroom with him. He could not discern what they were but one in particular made him very fearful.

Image credits: cap_slinger


#27

I was a medic in the military and I worked in one hospital in Louisiana. I was assisting with a mature dependent wife at the end of a long battle with both dementia and cancer. Her last words were, "Damned, my pie must be burning!"

Image credits: Car-n-Truck-Guy


#28

My great grandfather was in his mid 90's when he died. Health was always good, but a benign tumor deemed to dangerous to operate on at his age went septic. He was dead a week later.


I went to visit him in the hospital. My family used to see him a lot, but there was a falling out between him and my grandma several years before, so we stopped seeing them. Funny enough though, I constantly ran into him at the store and we always had nice chats.


Anyway, in the hospital he told me not to worry about him. Most everyone he's every known was dead, and he was ready to die.


The week he felt himself getting sick, he know something was off and made arrangements to get my great grandma into a nursing home. He took care of her with her alzheimer's, so he wouldn't die until he knew she was taken care of. They were married for over 70 years. My favorite story is that every Sunday for over 50 years, he would drop my great grandma off at church, and then sat in the car and waited for her. Hated religion, but loved his wife lol.

Image credits: PancakesandMaggots


#29

Nothing dark, but unexpected for me:



I spent a lot of time with my 90-something-year-old grandfather in his final months. He was married to my grandmother for over 70 years and told me he never slept with any other woman. This was followed by him asking me what it was like to sleep with more than one person in your lifetime.



He (partially paralyzed from a stroke, at the end of his life) also told me, as he was waking up from a nap, that he was just dreaming about having sex with Betty Grable.



I never shared these details with my family.

Image credits: smetimesDCsmtimesRVA


#30

Not sure if this fits but here it is. I had a roommate, Ink, that was an ex con and he moved in with another friend of ours, Brad, that was a printer. Well they decided to counterfeit money and go on a road trip. When they got back Ink was contacted by the Secret Service, they "just wanted to talk to him".


They had met at Denny's, Ink wanted me to wait in a nearby parking lot and watch what went down, they led him out of the restaurant in handcuffs. He called me quite a few times from Federal prisons while he was being transported and kept telling me to tell Brad not to worry, he'd take the fall and do the time.


Nobody could find Brad, the police finally kicked his door in and found him dead. He had committed suicide and in his suicide note he took all of the blame and said Ink had nothing to do with it. The courts considered that a deathbed confession and Ink was let out of jail. Crazy stuff...

#31

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...

Image credits: NotAnEarthwormYet


#32

My great uncle had pancreatic cancer and was very frail because of it. I helped him bathe, use the restroom, and change him each morning. Not his last words to me but something he said that has stuck with me since were "I hate feeling so useless, I can't do this anymore, I'm so sorry you have to do this." I told him I never minded doing this for him, I loved him so much, and I'd always be there for him. I had to move away a few weeks later because my mom wanted me back home as I was living with my grandparents and him at the time. He passed away shortly after, and his cat he had for almost 30 years a few days after him. He was a good man.

#33

I didn't witness this personally as it was between my grandfather and his father. My great grandfather was not a nice man. He beat his children (one time he beat his daughter with a table leg) and I am assuming did the same to his wife.


Anyway, she left him and the kids behind (this was the 30s and I am assuming that he didn't allow her to take the kids with her and its not like womens rights were great back then) my grandfather left home at 8 years old and fended for himself for his entire life.


On his death bed nasty grandpa told the boys that he had a bunch of money stashed on the old property and if they went to see him, he would tell them where it was.


No one went.


Edit for clarity: nasty grandpa was my great grandfather.

#34

Helped care for my dad as he died from cancer earlier this year. He would get agitated and reach his arms out and try to sit up. The last thing he said was “f*****ck.” Not sure what it was referencing - pain, drugs, or war memories - but that stuck with me. He passed very peacefully in the end

Image credits: MaLasagna888


#35

My grandmother admitted she didn't like my haircut.

#36

My dad has a special ability to gain people’s trust. (In a good way).


Twice now he’s had instances where dying people tell him things that they feel they can’t tell their family.


The one case was when my aunt’s mother-in-law was dying. She explained to my dad that her husband cannot live alone and that they both agree he must find a new partner after she passes...


He did. He remarried within a year of her passing. At the age of 81. The family was very upset about him moving on so fast. My dad had to stand up for him and reassure them that it is what his late wife wanted.

Image credits: Vonnybon


#37

Not exactly on his deathbed.


My step father emailed me the night he passed away. In general, he was always in pain from chemo, cancer, meds and whatnot. He did not want to continue spending money as he wasted away.


He asked me to never tell the rest of the family: "but I'm taking all my sleeping pills tonight after your Mom goes to bed. With luck, she'll never know the truth. It would break her."

#38

This wasn't a death bed confession, but more of hospice. This man was an alcoholic, this isn't usually a problem because when in hospice you can get whatever you want as long as it is legal, but he was a violent drunk and was forbidden alcohol as a result. Anyways between his requests for alcohol, he talked about how he and a friend got into a massive fight about land and his equipment being borrowed, as a result they haven't spoken in 20 years.

He said he didnt even know why it was such a big deal and regretted being that aggressive. Basically said he missed his best friend and wished they didn't lose all those years.

Image credits: Bathtubskipper


#39

Not exactly a Deathbed confession but a day before. My grandmother passed away in 2013 and my Dad in 2014. We never told our great grand mother that my dad was no more (because of her mental state at that time).

She mentioned she could have done more for her eldest child (my grandmother was 12 when she was married off to my grandfather) and that for the past few days my Dad is in the living room telling her it is time to go to our new home and that he is being very adamant today, she would pack her things tomorrow morning and would leave with him. She passed away the next day

#40

The last two things my grandfather told me was that when he was a kid he and his mother would throw big stones on cars from a bridge and he also told me about how much better looking the lady that delivered bread to his family was compared to my grandma

Image credits: Inevitable_Mango_561


#41

My grandmother fell sick and it got worse in two weeks.

A few minutes before dying she said "shift me on the another bed and remove all these stuffs and open the doors, I'm leaving now."

Image credits: anon


#42

My Grandma suffered from dementia for many years before she passed. It got so bad she didn’t remember who her family were, and would barricade herself in her home because she was scared of everyone.


She even forgot she smoked and would find her cigarettes months later after forgetting where they were and claim she was desperate for one. She’d put them away after 1 and that would be her again for months.


The only memories she had left at the end was that her sister used to be able to play the piano beautifully and her husband - her childhood sweetheart - was gone but she didn’t know where (he’d died some time earlier).


She spent her days waiting for him to come home from wherever he was. “My John will be home soon” she would say, or someone would walk past the window and she’d double take and say “thought that was my John”.


It was heartbreaking watching her deteriorate until she was on her deathbed, unaware of anything or anyone. I went to say my goodbyes to her in the hospital and she held my hand and told me how much she loved me but how she was ready to go be with John now.


In that moment, she remembered who I was, what was happening to her and that her husband, my Grandad, had gone already. She went in her sleep not long after that, and I’m forever thankful I managed to say goodbye and tell her how much I loved her too.


I’ve held onto that moment for so long without really digesting it in anyway that writing this just tore my heart out. I miss them both so much but I know they’re finally together again somewhere.

#43

A couple of days before my grandmother passed away she was really confused and was talking about my mother having a child a year or so after my own birth that was sent for adoption. She was talking about how sad and horrible this was and that I deserved to know. After my grandmother passed I confronted my mom about it and she neglected this, and I truly believed her. Couple of months later it turns out my grandmother was the one adopting away a baby girl who was born between my mother and aunt.

#44

I was with a family member before he passed, not really a confession but he was on some serious medication and told me about the weird stuff he was seeing as he was dying. Said he could see people crawling out of the lights in the room and when he fell asleep he told me he was standing in a field with a hurricane passing over him. He told me, "I don't want to die."


He was dead the next day.

#45

My grandfather passed away from dementia about 10 years ago.


He didn't seem to know that my grandma, my mom, and my dad were in the room with us.


He looked right at me with a sad look I'd never seen him give, and he begged me to not waste my life like he had done.


My grandma mostly kept her composure, but I could tell it added more pain to an already painful time.


Unfortunately, though I promised him I wouldn't, I knew even back then that I would never be able to do anything except waste my life. Still true now.


I broke a promise to my grandpa the moment I made it.

#46

I had an uncle who was a heavy drinker and just known for being a bit crazy (wild, not mentally unwell although I suspect the latter was also true). Anyway at one family party, the morning after a mattress in the house was found stinking of p**s - no one knew who the culprit was and he naturally got the blame though he vehemently denied it. His last words on his deathbed were “it wasn’t me that pissed the bed!” So it clearly bothered him for years that he had been blamed for this (a minor thing compared to many things he had done!)

#47

Not really a deathbed confession but the last thing i heard my grandma say. My grandma had dementia and was really going through a tough time, staying in bed forever and just not having a good life. Me and my dad went to visit her one day when we went to our grandpa's funeral. We started talking to her and she had no clue who my dad was, last thing im pretty sure me and my dad both heard from her was "well im not sure who you are but you have nice teeth". She most likely didnt even know that her husband was the one who was being put into the grave.

#48

I wasn’t there to witness her confession, but the story leading up to it is intriguing.


My mom was adopted, and my grandparents never kept it a secret, they loved my mom like their own. When she was growing up, she tried to find out as much as she could about her and her adopted brother’s birth parents.


Back in those days though, info like that wasn’t exactly the easiest to find. My mom and uncle were brought to the orphanage with little to info on each of their biological parents, or was else wise requested to be kept secret.


Eventually, my mom found enough info from notes she had gathered; like which families might have been most likely to be related to her, some property info one can find at the library, and she just sort of pieced this puzzle together over her life. At a certain point, she was able to get the names of her mother and her brother’s mother. She was able to find out she was part of a big family, with lots of brothers and sisters. But, for my uncle, he found out that his mother had died not long after placing him for adoption.


By the time she had gathered all of this info and found this much out, my mom was married, had my older sister and was pregnant with me.


I can’t remember exactly what it was she found that lead to it, or if she heard something from someone, but she got a phone number. That phone number went to the house of her biological mother.


She called, and the voice of a young boy answered, my mom asked for the name she knew and she hears, “yeah one second... *hey Mom, phones for you*”


My mom and her mom talk.


It wasn’t an easy conversation, and I’m just gonna refer to my mom’s mom as bio-gran from here.


Bio-gran is not comfortable with my mom contacting her, at all. She doesn’t ask my mom a lot of questions, but my mom says that she was just gonna talk and if bio-gran wanted to hang up at any point, she could. My mom just gave her a short version of the story of her life, and then the conversation was over.


Bio-gran after that, would send letters to my mom on occasion, but bio-gran made a point of telling my mom she could never be found out by the rest of her family.


And bio-gran carried that secret with her until the day of her death.


One of her daughters asked her, “Will you tell us where you went, when you went away that time?”


And bio-gran finally confessed, she had gone to a home for unwed mothers all those years ago to have my mom, the child of her affair.


I’ve met two of my bio-aunts, and sadly both of them passed a few years ago.


But dang.


tldr; my biological grandmother had an affair with a milkman, left to go to a home for unwed mothers, had a child, did not tell her family until her deathbed.

#49

The last conversation I had with my Aunt Rose. She was manic depressive and during a visit to my dad’s house, she had a manic episode. When this happens, she talks non-stop, as fast as she can get the words out. She told me she felt my dad harbored resentment against her because her sister got my grandfather killed.

My grandfather used to do “the numbers” in the LES in the 1970’s. He would have a lot of cash on him in the bars late at night. Her sister was a junkie, knew this, and had him set up to be robbed. During the robbery gramps got stabbed and ended up dying several months later from sepsis. He did shoot both the assailants, although I am unsure of their outcomes.

I only knew he was murdered, but they always kept the details from me.

#50

Not a confession, just passing thoughts.


I moved away for uni when my grandma fell ill, and she rapidly declined (6 months from diagnosis to death). In her last few weeks, it was around easter and I was so busy with work/school and I hadn't heard from her, so I called her and managed to have a 1 minute and 34 second conversation with her before she became tired and said goodbye. That night, I saw her in my dreams waving to me with a suitcase in her hands, and when I woke up I knew she had passed.



When my mum called me that morning to let me know, she said that in the last 3 weeks of her sickness, I was the only person she'd gained enough strength to talk to, and they think she was holding on until I called :(

#51

A 92 year old man confessed that he had a affair lasting 13 years

#52

A family friend was taking care of an elderly aunt. I forget what health issues she had, but one day she got up and started putting on her slippers and just getting ready. When asked what she was doing she said “I’m just getting ready to see Jesus”. She died maybe 4 hours later.


Edit: got lost in the comments. While not a confession just eerie last conversations with people.