Relationships can be a rollercoaster of emotions. Love makes us do crazy things...especially when that love is betrayed in some way. That's why our significant others play a huge role in the major moments in our lives, especially the ones that don't seem real. Read on to see what happened when these Redditors experience a "this can't be real moment" with their significant other.
Content has been edited for clarity.
A Forgotten Affair
“My husband moved out. He’d been having an affair with his coworker and wanted out. It was all still very new and raw. We had two little children and I was, of course, super angry and devastated.
Two weeks later, I get a call from a strange number. It was a nurse at the local hospital. My husband had been in a motorcycle accident, he was hurt, but was going to be okay. So, of course, I’d be coming up there, right? I could tell she was put off by my confusion and initial uncertainty of what to do. She kept saying he was asking for me, so I finally agreed to come up to the ER to see him.
He was apparently suffering some mild sort of concussion. He was awake and aware of his surroundings, but didn’t remember anything from the recent past. In other words, he had no idea of the affair, or that he had left and that we were in the middle of separating.
And to add to the fun, he was unable to retain anything we told him. His mother was there with me, and we had to keep explaining the situation to him. ‘No, David…you guys aren’t together anymore. You’re with Amber now.’ And he’d cry, and ask, ‘What happened? What are you talking about? We’re still married, right? I still love you!’
Rinse and repeat for about half an hour before I couldn’t take it anymore. I left him in his mother’s capable hands and left by the ambulance entrance so I could avoid seeing ‘Amber’ who was sitting out in the waiting room.
In case anyone is wondering, he recovered quickly with never a word of the incident again, and we ended up divorced. In hindsight, it was the best thing that ever happened to me. I’m glad his change of heart was only the result of a blow to the head!”
The Worst Part Was Losing Her Parents
“I was invited to a Halloween party at my friend’s house. My girlfriend (of 6-7 years) was sick and couldn’t go. She was going to stay at her parents’ house so that someone was around in case she got any worse. So, I went and had a great time and I decided at about one in the morning that I would go back and look after her for the rest of the night instead of going back to our apartment. When I walked in, I went down into the basement where the guest room was, I caught her right in the middle of steamy cyber session with her online boyfriend.
Obviously, it was over, but the real ‘this is really happening to me’ moment was that her parents had spent all this time and money building me up so that I would be able to take care of their daughter. They helped me get a job in law-enforcement, they let me drive around a car they were leasing so I could save money, they did everything to groom me from a total loser who couldn’t even hold down a job at a car wash to a professional officer who has to deal with murders and crime on a daily basis. My whole future just crumbled before my eyes because I could only see it with her. All the signs were there, but I was just so in love that I didn’t see them.
I still keep in touch with her parents from time to time because of all the hard work they’ve invested in me and my new wife is very happy with their handiwork. Jack and Fran, thank you for everything.”
The Strangest Way To Ask For Forgiveness
“My ex broke up with me and then a few months later decided he wanted me back when he found out that I was seeing someone new. He demanded that I allow him to come over and hear him out. He wrote an extremely cringey three page letter that he made me read in front of him while he paced around looking distraught. He also gave me an early Christmas gift that he acted like he had bought way in advance because he ‘expected we would be back together by Christmas,’ which he later admitted he had 1-day shipped once he found out about my new partner.
All of this was bad enough, but the thing that really solidified the ‘I can’t believe this is happening’ feeling for me was watching my roommate’s cat jump up on the back of the couch, prop itself up on his shoulder, and start licking the tears off of his face. He didn’t acknowledge the cat at all. He just let it happen. All while making direct, intense eye contact with me. It was truly the most bizarre experience I’ve had with another person.”
Still Smitten After All These Years
“I’m about to turn 40, still single and have recently ditched my long time boyfriend after discovering that he was cheating on me. My friend suggests that a ski trip to Park City Utah would be a great distraction, so off we go.
The first night we’re there, I meet this really cute guy in the communal hot tub at our condo and he asks me to go out to dinner the next night. I agree and we have an amazing time in a beautiful stone restaurant at a table in front of an enormous fireplace with a copper hood. It was very romantic and I was totally smitten.
My birthday arrives a few days later and he gives me a wrapped box with a cute little Park City sleep shirt inside and there’s also a card. I open it and it’s a simple Happy Birthday card, but he has signed it ‘I love you.’ I’m so shocked I almost fall off the chair, but the look on his face convinces me that he is sincere. A whirlwind long distance romance follows and we get married three months later.
We’ve been married 30 years and now we’re living our dream retirement life in the mountains of Western North Carolina. We’re too darned old to ski now, but we do have a hot tub!”
Relationship Rollercoaster
“A few months ago, my girlfriend decided that we were getting too serious and that our paths in life were too different to work out and so she ended things. It was a bit of a stinger and kind of out of left field, but it happened and I was fine with it.
Now my ‘I can’t believe this is happening right now’ moment came a few days later when she came over to talk about something. It turns out that she was pregnant. So my now ex-girlfriend is pregnant with my kid, just days after she dumped me. That was a really hard pill to swallow and really awkward too.
The story continues, I decided that I was going to be a part of her life and we unofficially got back together. Basically pretending that she never dumped in the first place. There was no way she was going to be raising my kid without me. Things were awkward for a bit, but we were working through them. Then, she had a miscarriage. That messed her up pretty good for a while.
So within the span of a few weeks I got dumped, found out I was going to be a father, got undumped, then found out I wasn’t going to be a father afterwards. The whole thing happened so fast. It was completely surreal.
We’re still dating each other now. Though honestly I am not quite sure why it’s supposedly better now than when she dumped me in the first place. I think she’s bonded to the fact that we went through everything together.”
“I Wish I Could Travel Back In Time And Try Harder”
“My life was amazing. I had my dream home, four fur babies, happy marriage of five years, a great job, and I was finally financially stable.
Then, one day, my husband decides he doesn’t love me anymore and doesn’t think he can ever be happy with me again. A week later, I find out about the numerous women he has been seeing and he tells me he wants a divorce. In a matter of two weeks, I lose everything I have worked so hard for. Those two weeks were my moment. Heck, sometimes I still have that moment.
I’m still waiting for the divorce to be finalized. I feel alone and very depressed a majority of the time. He has already moved in with one of the women and is living his new happily ever after. I’m still in shock and still don’t fully understand what happened.
I wish I could travel back in time and try harder.”
She Was Probably From The Wrong Side Of The Tracks
“I invited a Tinder date to my place (first time ever meeting her) and she drove her car down the train tracks right next to my house and got stuck on them. A train came and I had to run on to the tracks and pull her out of the car, then wave like a mad man at the train to stop it.
The entire neighborhood comes out to see the commotion. Firefighters and police get called, her car has to get towed off the tracks. Everyone on the train has their nightly commute ruined. She starts talking mad crap to the police, constantly talking back while they’re trying to do reports. Meanwhile, they look at me like, ‘Dude, are you going to talk some sense into this girl?’ I have to explain, once again, that I had never even met her before tonight.
To top it off, we still hung out the rest of the night and did the deed.”
Not The Wedding Anniversary He Was Expecting
“Imagine coming home with flowers, chocolates and a gift for your 5th year wedding anniversary only to see your wife start crying when she sees you. Then comes the revelation that they feel like a man on the inside and want to transition into becoming one. That they’re so sorry they lied to you all this time about how they felt. That they were actually more into women than men, which is pretty inconvenient to you and your marriage as a non-trans, straight male.
When my spouse came out to me, they were in a really bad spot emotionally due to family issues. So I decided to support them through that time, even going so far as administering testosterone shots so they wouldn’t have to themself.
As I looked into the abyss of what all this meant, I instantly understood that no one could really get what I was going through without facing something similar themselves. I mean, I’d read about this happening in news stories here and there, but it was actually happening to me?
Unfortunately, our friends and their family withdrew support. Not wanting my partner around their children and stuff, isolating both of us pretty badly even though we’d been there for them consistently for ages. This rejection was far too much for my partner who decided not to stick around on this planet anymore.
And that’s why I drink.
A few very difficult years later, I remember waking up thinking, ‘Haha, that was all a dream, there’s no way the person I loved so much told me those lies and did that to me.’ I then rolled over to put my arm around the other still empty side of the bed. That was the last truly bad day, full of tears.
To be honest, I still can’t believe that happened to me.
On a positive note, their super hot friend that helped me heal from that blow also gave me another ‘I can’t believe this is happening right now.’ They’d come over to watch shows with me and my brother, but this time, without any warning, they scooted over next to me and put my arm around them. Apparently I was dating again. I’d been so dense to not notice that they’d been interested in me all this time. That I’d (in her words) shown her what a loving husband should be like and she wanted that now that I’d healed up enough to make a healthy relationship choice again. I still feel broken when I talk about it, but it helps and she helps more than anything. Just time gets it past.”