Note: Discussions of abuse, murder, and rape.
We tend to think of our grandparents and older relatives as these wise, sometimes uptight figures in our lives. That is until they randomly drop a fact about their past that makes you go, HUHHHHHH!?!?
Like, I don't know, being a rum runner for Al Capone or a cage dancer in the 1970s. These are just some of the stories people shared for a recent BuzzFeed Community post, but there were so many more shocking, random, concerning, and wild stories to share.
Let's get into 'em:
1. "My grandmother lived in Belgium during WWII. She and her family worked for the resistance in different ways and also hid Jewish and other 'unwanted' people in their homes. Also, my grandfather ran booze with the Chicago mob in the '20s."
2. "My Swedish grandfather was a police officer during WW2 and frequently worked with Raoul Wallenberg distributing fake Swedish passports and papers to Jewish escapees, also helping them get onto trains to Sweden. Have always been very proud of those stories."
3. My great-grandpa spilled the tea on his deathbed to my great-uncle and great-aunt. When he was 16, he lied about his age to enter the Royal Navy. Then WWI began shortly after. His older brother died in France, and his younger brother died of pneumonia in Wales. So, he and a friend decided to go AWOL from the Royal Navy after getting their 6-month salary (£20). He then stole a Canadian man's identity, took a steamer ship to Canada, and eventually crossed into the US. He lived the rest of his life under the stolen identity."
4. "My grandmother kept a journal that told the full story of a long-standing family rumor. She sold gin during prohibition to save the family farm. Her customers included local judges, doctors, and lawyers. She was paid extra to package the gin into bottles marked vinegar. She got busted by a local deputy and sent to jail. It was then revealed the deputy's wife was a customer, so charges were dropped. My grandfather was so angry with my grandmother over the gin sales that he locked her up in an asylum."
5. "I only knew my grandfather as a kind but quiet and stoic man. But my grandmother used to tell me about how he was the life of every party, always buying rounds of beers, dancing with all the ladies, and jumping on stage to sing Irish jigs. It didn't jive with the man I knew. About 20 years after he died, my father told me why that was."
"Back in the early '70s, he was driving a delivery truck when he accidentally hit and killed a child who was playing in the street. My grandfather was cleared of any liability, and even the mother of the child, who witnessed the accident, said there was nothing my grandfather could've done to prevent it. Still, he was consumed by guilt, and his health deteriorated rapidly. So sad."
6. "When my grandfather was a teen in the early 20th century, he was in a school play. He needed to bring a gun to school to use as a prop. (Remember that this was over 100 years ago). What he didn't know was that his stepmother had loaded the gun. He shot his castmate, who didn't survive. I was able to find a newspaper article that confirmed the story."
7. "My grandparents ran a speakeasy during prohibition and bought liquor from Joe Kennedy. They always said he carried the best, straight from Ireland and Canada. They also ran the local black market during WWII. When a family was hosting soldiers, they made sure there was enough food for the family and soldiers. Local shopkeepers supported this. I miss my grandparents…"
8. "Last Thanksgiving, my grandma just casually revealed that her twin brother (my great uncle who passed away around 20 years ago) got drunk one night, slept with his step-daughter, and got her pregnant. I had no inkling anything like this ever happened and wish I could take back not knowing."
—emma
9. "All my life, my grandmother always told us, her granddaughters, to never trust an older man. When she was dying of cancer, she finally told us why she always said that. During the depression, she had a young man she loved. However, the family desperately needed money. So my grandmother, in her early 20s, was forced by her family to marry a wealthy man who was in his 80s. My grandmother would not have an affair with the man she loved because if she got pregnant, everyone would know her husband was not the father. Unfortunately, she did become pregnant — by her husband in his 80s. But everyone believed she had an affair with the man she loved."
10. "My maternal grandmother was kidnapped on horseback as a young adult by my grandfather with the help of a group of his friends and taken into the nearby mountains of their hometown for a couple of days until she agreed to marry him. The first time she told anyone was at a random family event, and everyone listening was shocked. They kept asking questions to get her to admit that that's what she wanted — I guess to ease their discomfort. Ever since, anytime it's brought up, she always reaffirms how much this upsets her. Once, when my grandma and I were alone, she started talking about what happened to her."
"She explained that these kinds of kidnappings were common before, but she and a couple of other women her age were the last to experience that in her hometown. She told me that she knew my grandfather was interested in her but had denied all his advances. She didn't want to be with an older man who already had a wife and kids (my family surmises that the first wife became severely mentally incapacitated, apparently from 'witchcraft,' and she and their kids were taken from my grandfather by her family). My grandma sustained an injury from being snatched by the arm and hoisted onto a galloping horse that still affects her to this day. I was too afraid to ask her head-on if she had been raped, but that was the implication; it was why she had to marry him. Everyone else assumed she had been 'deflowered' and no other man would take her after that. I believe my family chooses to ignore how severe this is, but I can never see my grandfather the same way again."
—Anonymous
11. "My uncle told me some wild history about my grandfather. At 16, he lied about his age and enlisted in WWI. During the war, he was hit by a grenade a year later at Vimy Ridge. He was left for dead as his abdominal wound was extensive, and it was assumed he would die. A young soldier from his town recognized him and carried him over his shoulder to the Red Cross station. He had a long road to recovery and eventually went back home."
"He became a drinker and a scrapper. At 58 years old, he got into a fight with someone in a bar and was thrown out. He later learned it was the same person who saved him! Finally, at 88 years old, he underwent surgery for abdominal pain, and lo and behold, there was a piece of shrapnel."
—Anonymous
12. "My grandfather was born and raised in Kentucky. In his early 20s, he moved to Chicago and got a job driving a truck from Chicago to Detroit and from Detroit to Windsor, Canada. When I was a teenager, I was looking through a box of photos and found a photo of my grandfather with a man I didn't know. When I asked him who it was, he wouldn't answer. My grandma grabbed it from me, tore it into pieces, and threw it in the trash. My grandfather said, 'All I did was drive a truck.' My mom laughed and said, 'Were you running whiskey for Al Capone?' My grandfather got up and went outside. When he came back, he sternly said again that all he did was drive a truck. That was the end of the discussion. From his reaction, my mom and I believed he drove for the Mafia."
13. "Found out my father's crazy grandmother in Sicily had shot a man and put him in a freezer! I also found out my dad wasn't my biological father! I was glad!"
14. "Ten-plus years ago, my mom casually mentioned to me one day that my grandfather (her dad) had murdered someone. This struck me as quite odd because my grandfather, whom I was never close to and rarely saw, was living a full, good life. She told me that he had been involved with some 'gangster' types in New York at the time and that he and another guy had 'taken care' of a guy by running him over."
15. "My grandmother had seven kids with her abusive husband. My grandfather ended up dying, supposedly of a heart attack, but I suspect it was drugs as he was in his early 30s. My grandma remarried and bore two more kids, only to leave that husband and take up with my grandfather's brother (her deceased husband's brother)."
"My cousin divulged to me one of my uncles was actually my grandfather's brother's son. He was the fourth child of the original seven and was even named after the brother. So basically, my grandma cheated on my grandfather with his brother during her marriage and then had three more kids with my grandfather."
—Anonymous
16. "I asked my uncle who exactly our aunt was to us because I never understood where she came from, but the family was always close. It turns out my grandfather was a womanizer who dated my grandmother's sister before he dated and married my grandmother. Apparently, at some point after being with my grandmother (not sure if they were married yet or not), he got her sister pregnant. This aunt was, in fact, both my dad's half-sister and cousin… Jerry Springer would have loved my grandpa. He ended up leaving grandma and the three boys they had and never took care of any of those children (financially or paternally), including my aunt."
And lastly:
17. "My grandfather was very ill with an infection in his brain in his late 80s. My immediate family were all taking turns being with him in the hospital, anticipating these would be our last visits with him. He wasn't always lucid; he sort of floated in between his past and his present. One evening, I came to stay with him, and he began to address me as his lifelong best friend, which I thought was really endearing. He asked me/his friend to sit beside his bed, so I did."
"Things took a turn when he took my hand, laced his fingers with mine, kissed the back of it, and (still calling me by his friend's name) spoke beautifully about how grateful he was for the love 'we' shared even though it had to be a secret."
(Cont'd) "He then started talking about how excited he was about an upcoming hunting trip 'we' were going on. At that point, he started to get a bit more graphic about how he anticipated spending their not-at-all-hunting trip. I came out of my shocked stupor in time to change the subject before I heard anything I did not want to know about my grandfather and his partner!"
"So many things clicked into place for me about my very conservative and rather angry grandfather that night. I’m sorry he couldn’t live his authentic life, but I’m so grateful he had a man who loved him. They were best friends for over 60 years, a relationship that outlasted all of their various marriages. He went on to recover and lived over another decade. When I told my parents the story, it didn’t go over very well, but I saw a new patience in their relationship with their father."
—Anonymous
Now, I flip it back to you — has your relative ever randomly dropped a wild bombshell about their life that you never knew before? Let me know in the comments or at this anonymous form.
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.