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.”
The Day He Gave Up On The Legal System
“My (ex) wife had a temper. I’m a pretty chill guy owing to years of martial arts and meditation, so when she would get mad and throw things, I kinda enjoyed being a calming force and easing her turbulent times. This went on for years.
Then one morning, she goes off on one of her tirades, nothing out of the ordinary, and punches me, which IS out of the ordinary. Out of reflex (thanks, judo), I hip throw her. She calls the police, they show up and talk to us both. Next thing I know, I am escorted away in cuffs. Booked, jailed, etc.
A month later, we’re in court. My wife is saying, ‘I just want my husband back,’ and the judge says I’m lucky to have such a loving wife or he’d have sent me up the river for giving him a bullish story about being attacked by someone who obviously cared so much for me.
The whole thing was surreal. In the back of my mind in the courtroom, I was formulating my plan to move in with my brother and file for divorce. I gave up on the legal system encompassing actual justice that day.”
Always Wear A Helmet
“I was 18 years old and 13 weeks pregnant. I was riding my bike with my boyfriend and a friend to go have dinner at her house. We were all riding in a line with me leading the way when all of a sudden I was flying through the air.
I know that I couldn’t have been in the air for more than half a second, but in that moment, I processed so many thoughts. ‘Did I really just get hit by a car? Oh God, what if I land on my stomach? I’m not wearing a helmet! This can’t be real!’ I ended up hitting the ground and rolling a few times before ending up sprawled out on the burning pavement on a hot summer day.
Fortunately, I escaped with nothing more than a broken tail bone and some gnarly road rash. The driver of the car that hit me attempted to flee the scene, but my boyfriend stood in front of his car until the cops came. The whole thing still feels very surreal to me. That half a second in the air was the longest of my life. I promise I wear a helmet now though. God forbid my now 9-year-old daughter ever get on a bike without one.”
No Person Should Ever Have To Answer This Phone Call
“It was Labor Day 2016. I was working overtime because I had a four month old baby and my wife was staying home to raise her. I got a text and then a phone call from a friend telling me to go to the hospital right away. I ran out of work and about swerved off the road several times. I called a friend on the way there so I had someone to talk to. I was going crazy because no one would to tell me what was happening. So many things were running through my mind. I was numb, in shock, and about to have a panic attack.
I get to the emergency room and the paramedics took me in a room and told me my wife died in a car accident. My baby, who was also in the car, had two broken legs and a broken arm. I screamed, cried, and had to pull myself together to start calling people. It was like I was outside my body. It didn’t seem real. It still doesn’t to this day. I am doing my best to raise my daughter with the help of family.”
The Strangest Feeling
“I came home from work and saw my fiancée’s computer and table are gone. First, I thought we got robbed. Then, I saw my computer was still there. I thought that it was odd that they would steal just her computer, but, then again, it was closer to the door…
So, I shouted her name. No response. Maybe she was at the store below our apartment again.
Then, I saw the washing machine was gone. Her dad gave it to us when we moved in together.
I started noticing more stuff was missing. All hers or from her family.
I was starting to get it. I called her. She informed me she left me. She made sure to do it while I couldn’t stop her. Not physically stop her, just so I couldn’t talk with her about it. So I wouldn’t accidentally convince her she still loves me.
This came practically out of nowhere.
She had her dad help her move all her furniture, too. She left me just the garbage she didn’t want anymore.
She was my fiancée. We were together for 6 years.
She didn’t love me anymore.
It’s a strange feeling. Kissing her goodbye in the morning, going off to work…and then she’s gone. She did do the dishes before she left, though, which was nice. This happened just over two years ago.
I got through it because there’s never really a reason to stop going. I wasn’t about to give up on myself just because she did. Two weeks later, I was back dating. Two months later I met my now-wife. Yes, quite a speedy marriage, but that’s a different story. No, she didn’t get pregnant.
I’ve been called a ‘serial monogamist’ because of how fast I’ve ‘moved on,’ but it’s more of a case of refusing to give up. No point wasting your life on a person that literally threw you away, right?
So my advice is: just power through. It’s hard, it’s depressing, it’s literally your life and planned future exploding into dust with you holding the pieces. That’s the hand you’ve been dealt, and giving up just means losing faster.”
Happiest Day Ever
“My first dance with my wife at our wedding. We are 30 and have been married for two years, but we have been friends since we were 13. I always always always had a crush on her. In school I was more focused on soccer, which lead to many universities offering scholarships. I was also preoccupied with a severely abusive home situation. Things never really worked out. After high school, she went to college; I joined the Army.
Fast forward a bunch of years. I messaged her on my birthday because she was in France celebrating her Masters Degree. We hit it off and have been together since that message. All these memories and this timeline flashed in my head during our first dance. I sobbed. I never thought I was worthy of love. I always thought my purpose was to be everyone else’s punching bag. Today, I am the happiest I have ever been. I honestly can’t believe this is happening right now.
If I can pass along one piece of advice: always communicate, especially when it’s hard. We have had three heated arguments in almost five years of being together. We talk about things we like. We talk about things that annoy us. We talk about getting hurt by each other. We talk about little things that makes us happy. I never wonder how she feels about something and she doesn’t either. You’re both on the same team, don’t make things harder on your teammate.”
Homecoming
“My first ‘real’ girlfriend – defined as such by the fact that we partook in the mutual mashing-together of naughty bits – was a young woman named Jes. She and I had drifted in and out of similar social groups for the first few months of my sophomore year in high school, spending time with each other more by accident than by design. Despite these indifferent interactions, we seemed to get along fairly well… and when the date of the school’s homecoming dance rolled around, I asked her to attend with me.
‘Hey, Jes,’ I began, affecting an air of apathy, ‘are you going to the homecoming dance?’
She shrugged in reply, mirroring my demeanor. ‘Maybe. I guess if anyone else will be there, I might go.’
‘Yeah, same here,’ I answered. ‘There’s no way I’d attend unless I was meeting someone.’
The translation of that exchange, for folks who don’t speak Surly Teenager, is as follows:
‘Hey, Jes, will you be my date to the homecoming dance?’
‘I’d love to! Should we meet there?’
‘Absolutely. I’ll look forward to it.’
Anyway, Jes and I both wound up arriving just as the doors to the school’s gymnasium were opening for the event. I’d shown up wearing black slacks and an equally black turtleneck, while Jes was clad in a dark skirt, a blue top, and a worn denim jacket. We probably looked like a beatnik and a biker, respectively…but at the time, each of us were convinced that we were the very pinnacle of both fashion and physical attractiveness.
The two of us ventured inside the gymnasium, looked around, then promptly took up positions along one wall to glower out at the rest of the assembled students. We took turns making small-talk at first, until a combination of boredom and adolescent recklessness caused a mutiny to occur between my brain and my mouth.
‘So, is your boyfriend going to be here?’ I heard myself ask.
Jes stared at me as though trying to decide something. ‘We broke up yesterday.’
‘Oh.’ I stood in silence for a few seconds. ‘Want to go make out later, then?’
The stare returned. After what felt like an endless eternity, Jes replied. ‘Sure.’
‘Actually… want to go make out right now?’
I’m going to omit a few details here for the sake of brevity, but suffice to say that Jes and I left the gym, made our way to the dugout near the baseball field, and promptly attempted to eat one another’s tongues. Then, after less than a minute had gone by, I pulled back.
‘How far do you want to go?’ I asked, sounding for all the world like a bored travel agent.
Jes tilted her head. ‘Well, I don’t want to be pregnant.’
‘Oh, you won’t be,’ I replied, ‘but I have very friendly hands.’
I have absolutely no idea why the young woman didn’t burst into tears of laughter right then and there. Looking back, I still can’t believe that sentence made its way past my lips. Even more incredible, though, is the fact that Jes not only welcomed my awkward groping, but also eagerly agreed to a change in plans when I ‘remembered’ that a friend of mine had brought rubbers to the dance with him.
That was the night I lost my v-card, thus forever lending credence to the saying, ‘Stranger things have happened.'”