I’ve heard a ton of stories about people cleaning out the belongings of a loved one who passed away and they find some things that make them look at that person a lot differently.

And some people just hear things that change their perspective about a certain someone…

You just never know with some people…

What shocking thing did you learn about someone after they passed away?

People on AskReddit shared their stories.

1. Gotta mix it up.

“My grandpa passed at 94 shortly after a fall down a flight of stairs.

He was a pretty active guy but one misstep put him in the hospital for 2 weeks before his body finally let go. When we were cleaning out his home, we found a massive d**do in his linen closet.

My brother and I were mortified but my dad (his son!) said, “hey, everyone has s** and likes to mix it up a bit.””

2. A shock.

“My grandparents were not biologically my grandparents. My dad and his sister were both adopted as babies.

Only found out when, after the funeral (one funeral, they d**d on the same day) I was b**ching about my aunt and her behaviour at said funeral, and I said something along the lines of “I just don’t understand how the two of you are even related!’

And Dad came back with “well, actually…” and the whole thing came out. He has no knowledge of his bio family and no interest in finding out, so I can’t say it’s changed much, but it was definitely a shock.”

3. Sad.

“My mom didn’t want me after I was born.

She tried to give me away to my aunt, the only person she trusted with me.

My grandfather told me that, the night after her funeral that morning.

My aunt confirmed a few days later.”

4. War stories.

“My grandfather had gnarly scars on both his forearms, often wearing long sleeves and getting annoyed when we as kids asked what they were from.

The guy was huge having been an agricultural labourer and railway porter, super kind and gentle, a pacifist too – used to tell us loads about how pointless war/fighting was.

When we asked about his scars, he always told us he got them “doing some work”, we assumed a pre-war farming accident or something involving a train. He rarely talked about WWI, which was not unusual for his generation where I grew up.

After he d**d ages ago, we spoke to a chap he had served in the army with (WWII, British Infantry) and he told us the actual story behind his scars. Apparently he and 3 of his mates had been captured by the Japanese, knowing that this was a really, really bad thing, Grandad had managed to get free and somehow grab a machete – he was very strong and about 6″3.

His friend said he k**led 5 Japanese soldiers, one of who had a sword/blade of some kind, getting pretty badly hurt in the process. After that (and recovery) he was assigned to guard a medical facility and didn’t do any more frontline fighting – Apparently previously he had been quite good at fighting.

His friend credited that with his pacifism, apparently it was a bit visceral – his comrade used the term “messy”, but being British this was likely an understatement. He’d told pretty much nobody about this, even his wife.

I know some of this is likely to be embellished because grandad had just d**d – I think a bayonet is more likely than a sword – but I like to think of him winning a sword fight against a katana-armed enemy, using just a machete.”

5. Who’s the father?

“Not me but my uncle found out he had a different dad than his siblings when he was taking a DNA ancestry test. His mother had had an affair.

Both parents were d**d when he found out. He’s a huge prick so I thought it was funny how it hit him.

He mistreated my mother for not being one of their full siblings from the same parents and turns out he isn’t either.”

6. Bribing.

“This isn’t shocking, more cute.

My grandad was a farmer his whole life. Every animal loved him. We’d go to a new place and dogs would be coming straight to him, horses would cuddle with him. He just had a charm with them.

When cleaning out his closet and digging in his pockets to make sure nothing of value was thrown in the wash, we found grains, bits of dried meats, dog treats, bits of old carrot (for the horses).

Man’s been bribing animals with food all this his life.”

7. Health nut.

“My great grandpa on my dad’s side lived to be 101.

He was the pinnacle of health for his entire life. Ate a very good diet with basically zero sugar, got regular exercise, and had all his mental functions and senses even in his old age. The man was still walking everywhere and taking busses on his own until literally the day he d**d.

He passed due to medical complications after a broken hip from a fall when he tripped on some steps. After he was gone, my family went to clear out the house and get everything in order.

My dad opened a drawer to find a hidden stash full of chocolate bars and wrappers. The dude was so proud of his health that he felt the need to hide a sweet treat from his own family.”

8. Stunner.

“My parents saw me as an investment and kept a secret journal of how much they spent on me my entire life.

What I got for Christmas, birthday gifts, movie tickets, even when they gave me quarters for the arcade. Even after I got married they would track anything they gave us. Gifts for the kids, things they bought for our house renovations (my Dad got a military discount and they even noted the reduced amount by percentage in the ledger), etc.

Found my Mom’s diaries and a handwritten ledger with my name on it detailing everything when we cleaned out her house. She also really didn’t like my Wife (she repeatedly wrote that i married someone that she felt was from a lower class.) and had multiple notebooks detailing what to do when she passed that we found throughout the house stating that she (my Wife, her family and friends) were not to enter the house after she d**d or to have any of her possessions.

Joke’s on her. It took us 6 months to clean out their 3 properties. My family never showed up until the day of the final property auction. My Wife and her family helped me clean out 3 packed properties and sell everything we didn’t want. Completely changed my entire view of my Parent’s and their love for me.”

9. Whoa.

“After my grandma passed away, we found her old medical files. She had undergone a psych evaluation in the late 70’s.

Turns out she had schizophrenia. In the transcription of the interview, she talks about demons trying to convince her to do things. And if she ever did anything bad, it was only because the demons told her to.

She was the sweetest, kindest, most loving person I’ve ever met. I knew my mom had a difficult childhood with her, but didn’t really get it until I read that file.”

10. Interesting guy.

“After he d**d, found out dad served in Vietnam as a combat medic.

Kinda explains a) why he never said anything about it b) was so resistant to me enlisting at 17 and c) had really good first aid skills.

He was also married twice before meeting my mom and published a heap of fiction and non fiction books.”

11. Family secret.

“Found out that my wife’s grandfather was a high level KKK member.

Found an old storage locker in his garage filled with his robe and hood and TONS of “memorabilia”.”

12. Bummer.

“I found out my boyfriend cheated on me after he d**d.

The only reason I found out is because the girl was bragging on Facebook about how she was the last person who got to taste his junk.

I called her a liar and she posted pics for proof. Shocked me for sure.”

Do you have any stories like this?

If so, share them with us in the comments.

We’d love to hear from you!