Family, whether by chance or destiny, is something we can’t have a choice. The experience of being part of a family is a combination of happiness and unexpected challenges, creating a journey where the path ahead is often unpredictable. When you go through life with your family, you’ll find moments of warmth and sometimes face difficulties you never saw coming, making it a unique and surprising adventure.

Story 1

A friend of mine worked on a cruise ship (as an entertainer) for six months. She didn’t need that much money on the boat but kept an apartment back in Germany with the landlord getting regular standing orders. When she came back home, she couldn’t get her door open, called the landlord, and he told her he had already thrown out all of her stuff, because after one month of her cruise, she didn’t pay the rent.

Turns out her parents, who had access to her bank account in case of emergency, took all the money to pay the bills, because their salary had gone into two new cars. So basically, she sat there without an apartment, without any friends in town, totally jet-lagged and without a single Euro in her pockets. Still makes me mad. © Unknown Author / Reddit

Story 2

My wife (now ex) opted to separate a couple of weeks before Christmas, I almost didn’t notice, because I was working 16+ hours/day during that period. So on the morning of the 25th, she showed up with her entire family with pickups and trucks to take out all of “her” things from the house, which was literally everything.

The kicker is, after she almost emptied the house, she went to the closet to pull out the presents that I bought for the kids and stated, “They can open them at my new place — they have no beds to sleep in here. You want them to have their gifts, right?” © BaconAndBacon / Reddit

Story 3

I have an aunt who was married into my family. She doesn’t give any of the kids on my side Christmas or birthday gifts, but she will brag about how much the kids on her side loved their gifts. A few years ago, she decided to give me a Christmas gift. It was a business card to a seminar to help you “fix the relationships in your life.” Thanks so much! © duetmasaki / Reddit

Story 4

After Mom passed away, her mom, who lived with us, assumed Dad would sell the house, move somewhere smaller, and send her to a shelter. One day, while Dad was at work, she took my mom’s ashes and scattered them all over the garden. When Dad returned home and frantically searched for the remains, she smirked and said, “Well, now you can’t leave here, and you can’t make me leave.”

I can’t describe the change in my dad after we moved out and got that evil woman out of our lives.

Story 5

About ten years ago, we discovered my great-grandmother was suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia. Shortly thereafter, we learned that her neighbors convinced her to give them power of attorney and they cleaned her out. © omgsnacks / Reddit

Story 6

A few years ago, as I was graduating from high school, my dad got incredibly sick and ended up in a coma. I still lived at home, waiting to turn 18 to move out, and living with me was his new girlfriend. One day, I came home to find out his girlfriend threw all my stuff on the lawn because she didn’t want me there.

Later, once my dad finally recovered, I found out that his girlfriend (now wife) had told him that I was bringing different friends home every night and partying with them in his house and that I didn’t care enough to respect his house while he was in a coma. I NEVER did that. And because of what she had told him while he was in the hospital recovering, he took my house key from me and told me I wasn’t welcome there anymore. © ssommer01 / Reddit

Story 7

My dad once made a rocking horse for my niece. He carved it out of several pieces of wood and hand-painted it. It was a beautiful toy that would have lasted for generations.

One day, her father was too lazy to go out and chop wood, so he smashed it up and threw it into the fire. © dewright23 / Reddit

Story 8

My ex-mother-in-law gave my 3 kids gifts they loved at Christmas when they were small. Two days later, she came to the house, packed EVERYTHING she got into bags, and took it all back to the stores, because she was “broke.” © nothingis_real / Reddit

Story 9

My sister borrowed a large sum of money from our retired mother, with a promised payback plan. She never made a single payment. My mother is now down to her last dollar, so we tried to get our sister to pay her at least some of the money she owes. A few months later, a check showed up at our mom’s, made out to her for $0.00, and a comment on the bottom that said, “Get a job!” © shiny_brine / Reddit

Story 10

My dad got back in touch after 20 years. He was about to meet my pregnant wife and his first grandchild, but an hour before the meeting, he canceled it because he forgot he was playing golf. So I made a difficult decision: I texted him that I was changing my surname to my wife’s, thus ending the linage. © fe*****e / Twitter

Story 11

My dad’s younger brother was low on cash, so he sold the family grandfather clock at a pawn shop. It had been in the family for several generations, built in the mid-1800s. Broke my dad’s heart. © ragged-claws / Reddit

Story 12

Many years ago, I allowed my brother-in-law to stay with us temporarily, as he lost his job and his apartment and had nowhere else to go.
He acts nice in the beginning. We go out of town for a few weeks, and he is eager to watch the house for us. We come back, he has changed all the locks. We knock and knock and he refuses to answer. Suddenly, cops pulled up, and he had successfully evicted us from our own property.
I had to rent another place for 6 weeks until we could go through legal proceedings and get back in. When we did get back in he had trashed the house: he had poured milk and eggs on the carpets, put raw chicken inside the walls, stolen all the plugs and fixtures, ceiling fans, etc. © sirdomino / Reddit