Life's Fleeting Moments: 38 Soul-Crushing Things People Heard or Saw

People share things they were told or overheard that are so heavy that it feels hard to stomach.

By turismo20

Published 4 months ago in Feels

Emotions are part of all of us. Things that people hear or have said to them can affect people in a wide variety of ways. Some folks have thick skin, while others could be truly traumatized from a hurtful statement, whether it is intentional or not. Here are some things people were told or overheard that left them with a reality so heavy that it feels hard to stomach.

1
My husband and I took our teenage son and his friend (I’ll call him Alex) to an amusement park recently. My husband is a really funny guy and was making both boys laugh on the car ride home. Alex told my husband, “You’re really funny, Mr. D! You remind me of my Dad, except your jokes aren’t hurtful.” My heart.

2
I used to work in a restaurant, and a woman came in with an urn and set it on her table. Apparently her son had died in a car accident very recently and she was supposed to take him out to lunch for his birthday… so she brought his ashes to lunch instead. She was there for a few hours sobbing into her food (we all felt so bad because people kept staring at her as we sat them or walked past her table). Then she ordered his favorite dessert off our menu with special birthday plating, and just let it sit on the table. It was really awful to watch her be so irreparably heartbroken.

3
When I was 14, I overheard my mother, who had already abandoned my sister and was making arrangements for me to go live with a relative, trying to convince her new husband that they should have a baby together.
4
My dad and step mom adopted a baby girl, and my step sister overheard my dad talking about how excited he is to adopt a girl because *he’s never had a daughter*. Absolutely crushed my step sister, she thought of my dad like her own father. He’s been all she’s known.

5
I saw a documentary.... I don't even recall what it was about, but they were focusing on this family in a rural part of eastern Europe or southern Asia. There was a little girl in this family and all she did was work. She couldn't go to school, and she just assisted her mother in doing all the necessary drudgery around the house. One of the film makers asked the girl what her secret dream was. She said, "To play".
6
Woken in the middle of the night to a phone call from an anonymous, kind nurse who said. “I regret to inform you but [your mother] passed away at 11:40pm. She was not alone... I held her hand.”
7
My first big break-up. I was crying and said to my mom, "I feel like I'm hard to love." She gently replied, "Well, you are." I was the one being abused. I was a typical teenager. I've been brutally honest with multiple therapists (at first, on an attempt to get them to see whatever awful person my parents saw) and have been reassured a was a *typical depressed teenager*. Any "abusive" behavior from me was reactive abuse (i.e. yelling after I'd been pushed and pushed and pushed). I wasn't the Proper Pastor's Kid they wanted. I've been married to the same man for 15+ years (got married at 19) so... I found at least one person to love me.

8
"My family just gave up on me." -A 10-year-old that just got the news they had been unadopted by their family of the last 5 years.
9
Son was moved from hospital to palliative care. They said he had about a week. After getting him settled there he stopped being alert so I went home to grab a shower and get some rest. He passed while I was away, alone.
10
"Mom and Dad have been telling people they only have two kids" from my sister. They have three kids. All because I didn't go to the religious college they wanted me to go to.

11
My mum once told me “You wouldn’t be a very good mother, your sister would be much better”. I always loved and worked with children, my sister is more of an animal person. It crushed me because I always dreamed of being a mother and I still think about that comment made years ago when my boyfriend brings up the children topic.
12
"Vleir is dead." Vleir was the name of the pony who basically started my entire horse back riding experience, he gave me confidence like never before, he was so kind, so sweet, so gentle, he taught me how to canter, he taught me patience and how to jump. He was the best boy out there. The last time I saw him was the afternoon of my usual riding lesson, he was sick so he wasn't being used for lessons. He passes away from a heart attack in his pasture that same night. I remember crying myself to sleep the night my mom told me he was gone. Tearing up while writing this right now. RIP Vleir sweet boy, I miss you and I regret not saying goodbye before I left to go home.
13
Walked into school one morning to find out one of my parents were dead.

14
Less what I heard and more what I saw. I found out my stepdad was cheating on my mom one day when I was 14. I waited a few hours for my mom to get home and when I showed her what I found she took a deep breath and walked outside into the driveway. I’ve never seen such a visible heart break and my own heart has never hurt so much for my mom. Thankfully now five years later they’ve worked through it but I don’t think my mom will ever be the same.
15
“You’re going to end up just like your dad. A lonely junkie that no one wants to be around.” I just stood there silent. I didn’t know what to say to that.
16
Recently? Dad called me a few weeks ago, "Mom. She's gone." She'd been sick, but it was still pretty unexpected. Still doesn't seem real.

17
In the hospital 36 hours after having my first child my (then) husband said I was scaring him and I better get my s**t together because I was teary-eyed with happiness over my new little miracle baby.
18
“He’s gone” 4 weeks after finding out my dad had cancer. I watched him die but hearing that destroyed me.
19
*I was only with you because x didn't want me, and now he does there's no future for us.* Talk about a kick in the teeth.

20
When my grandpa told me I wasn’t good enough. I was always never a girly girl but not quite a tomboy. I was really close to him but he was old school. As I grew up he started to realize that I wasn’t changing in the right way. He kept telling me to use my lady voice, to sit ladylike, eat lady like, and do ladylike things. He had enough when he saw me with my animals being not gentle when they were stubborn and getting dirty and liking it. He got mad and yelled at me after when no one was around. It hurt because always thought he would love me no matter what then I found out that there were conditions to his love.
21
I had a close friend group and I left to go put something up. I came back and heard them say annoying so I of course asked who or what was annoying. They said you. "me?", I said. Completely crushed me they also told me that. No one really likes me. Yeah that really did it and I'm a lot different now. I'm also kind of glad that happend because now I'm a lot different.
22
Was told my best friend from primary school said this the day after we had to put my dog down, “She acts like he was going to live forever.” Doesn’t seem like much but it really upset me, considering I was like 9 or 10.

23
My first kiss is a bad memory because the girl told me she lost a bet with her friends and was dared to do it.
24
When my uncle passed away, mum and I took his phone. My 8yo cousin had texted him "are you dead?" whenever she found out. I couldn't stop crying.
25
"I don't have time for you." My father said this to me multiple times when growing up. Especially whenever I started to express that I was sad and or even really sick.

26
About five months into my relationship with my now-ex boyfriend, he pulled me aside from a conversation I was having with my mates. I was like "what's up?" "Nothing, I just don't know if I trust you around others anymore." This guy was paranoid that I would leave him that he didn't want me having friends or going anywhere without constantly talking to him 24/7. He was even more worried because I'm bisexual, meaning there was "double the threat" in his words. That relationship went on for about 10 months, and about 5 months too long.
27
Girl I had a crush on told me she was embarrassed that she had feelings for me.
28
A coworker told me that I am boring. It has always been something I felt about myself but having someone confirm it to my face was like a punch in my gut.

29
My dad was not my biological father.
30
"I never loved you. Leave me alone." - After 8 years of relationship from the girl I was about to marry.
31
"Your mom is cheating on me."

32
An ex-girlfriend who left me allegedly because she wants to pay more attention to herself, self-development, does not want a relationship. It would seem normal, at that moment I understood her, but after 2 days I found out that she had a new boyfriend. This blatant lie broke my heart...
33
I teach martial arts to 3-5 yo. A mom brought her daughter and asked if those kids with me were mine. I said yes but the other twin stayed home. The mom took a deep breath and said that her daughter had a twin too that died at birth.
34
"Your mom has cancer..."

35
Wife told me she wants to leave me.
36
I lived on an Alaskan Island for a summer job, so lived with all coworkers, I was upstairs and I overheard everyone downstairs having a sort of conference about my snoring. People defending me against my roommate. Everyone on the island knew I snored because of her but she never talked to me so I could buy nasal strips or something….after that got tested turns out I have sever sleep apnea and now use a CPAP. It was so embarrassing and it was crushing because I couldn’t do anything about it and I felt so bad.
37
"How can she be my wife? I have no idea who she is." said my husband of 8 years after a bad car wreck and 4 weeks in a coma. He lost about 12 years of memories. Including our whole relationship. We got divorced 2 years after as his memory never returned.