People Are Recalling The Absolute Worst (And Best) Things Someone Has Ever Said To Them, And My Jaw Is On The Floor
Note: The below story discusses emotional abuse.
When you reflect back on your life, you may recall memories where someone told you something that was either downright horrible or positively life-changing in the best way possible.
So, to highlight how words can impact one's life (for better or worse), I wanted to share the answers from Reddit user u/uhmina's question: "What’s something that someone has told you that you will never forget?" Here's what the community had to say:
1.Positive: "My aunt died last year, which was six years after her first cancer diagnosis. She had been in palliative care for most of the pandemic, and I had quarantined just to be able to go see her — I was so worried she was going to die before I got to see her again. Luckily, I did get to spend some time with her while she was still primarily lucid. A few weeks before she passed, right before she started getting non-responsive, I kind of knew that was gonna be our last goodbye. I hugged her, and she told me that she had always thought of me as one of her own. Coming from a truly exceptional, kind, and loving person; hearing that from her before she died... I can't ever let myself forget that."
2.Negative: "A couple of hours after my mother's funeral, my aunt's husband told me: 'Your mom has always wanted a grandchild, I'd imagine she could have stuck around a little longer if you had granted her that wish.' She died of cancer, and he was insinuating that she wouldn't have gotten sick if I had given her that 'joy.'"
3.Positive: "As I was getting ready to go study abroad in college, an older and wiser friend told me, 'There will be times you feel like laying around and doing nothing but don’t do it! Get out and explore. You’ll never get that time back.' Honestly, he was SO right, and I heard his voice every time I was laying around my dorm, and I almost always went out (and dragged my friends out) to explore. Truly, I never regretted a single adventure."
4.Negative: "I tried to lean on my ex (then boyfriend) for support with my medical condition and instead of being a shoulder to cry on, he said, 'There’s nothing I can do for you, you need to find a support group for people like you.' That shit cut deep and it ended all the love I had for him. We broke up!"
5.Positive: "My ex (then boyfriend) once told me: 'You're sensitive, but not fragile. Sometimes your strength amazes me.' That's the most beautiful thing anyone has ever said to me."
6.Negative: "'Nobody will want a used-up forty-something that can't have kids anymore.' My lovely ex-husband said."
7.Positive: "My grandma died a few years ago, and she wanted to see me one last time before leaving in peace. As I was standing there in tears but with a smile on my face because she loved seeing me smiling, she told me, 'Please, never stop feeding your kindness. Be as kind as possible.' It is a simple quote but it sticks with me to this day. Besides this, every time I feel scared, unsure, anxious, or sad, I remember her voice telling me: 'Let me give you a grandma kiss on that forehead.'"
8.Negative: "When I turned 10, no one came to my birthday party. I was devastated. Sometime later, I got into a fight with my sister and my dad screamed at me and said that the way I am was why I had no friends and no one came to my birthday party. Since then, he has forgotten my birthday multiple times. I still have a hard time choosing to celebrate my birthday and I am trying to change that. My father has said some other horrible things to me, but this one stands out as the worst thing he’s ever said to me simply for its cruelty."
9.Positive: "I was in my early 20s and complaining to an older coworker about how another coworker had no idea what stress was (she was worried about college finals). I listed my oh-so-important stresses that I can’t even recall now, and she replied that my stress was no greater than anyone else’s. It may look different but their stress feels important and real to each person. I resented it then and felt dismissed. But the comment stuck with me, and I never again felt like my troubles were harder than another's. It’s now advice I give my teens on a regular basis."
10.Negative: "'You're much prettier when you're thin.' Thank you, mom."
11.Positive: "There was a schedule for my dry-grad: the walk, some family time, then the dance party, then the activity party (games and stuff, like laser tag and poker). During the family time part, there was a father-daughter/mother-son dance. So I was dancing with my dad, all dressed up (my mom forced me to wear makeup), and he said, 'I'm proud of you. Your mother and I are proud of the woman you've become. I'm so lucky to have you as a daughter.' It almost made me ruin the mascara I didn't want to wear. I've always wanted to make my dad proud and, while I have no idea what I've done to make him proud, I'm happy that I did."
12.Negative: "Me: puking my guts out on the floor for hours and finally caving asking my 'boyfriend' to take me to the ER in the middle of the night. (I have a chronic illness and he was the only person I knew in this city at the time and ride-sharing and taxis aren’t a thing here.) On the way there, I was barely conscious but I specifically remember him spitting at me with so much hatred and contempt: '[name redacted], this better be fucking serious.' I will never ever ever forget that a person I loved so much and was so in love with, didn’t give a shit about me or mine in such a vulnerable and awful moment for me. He didn’t even stick around at the ER. I should’ve left then.'"
13.Positive: "I was struggling to make the decision to leave my ex. Then my manager said something that I will never forget: 'I'm sorry to see that you don't value yourself enough that you stay with someone who treats you so badly.' We broke up that day."
14.Negative: "'You’re good enough, but you could be better.' My ex-husband."
15.Positive: "'I know you feel like you're going crazy but that's how you know you aren't. Crazy people don't know they are crazy.' 'What's the absolute worst that can happen? They can kill you but they can't eat you.' These are two things that have gotten me successfully through life."
16.Negative: "Being bullied as a kid one day, I was walking home and two guys were throwing snowballs at the back of my head. After being teased all day, I turned around and asked 'Why are you doing this?' and the reply I got was: 'Because you exist.' That stung and made me think my existance was a mistake, especially if all these people hate me and want to bully me just for being alive."
17.Positive: "One of the only things that stuck with me from my Nana (who I have a very difficult relationship with if you could even call it a relationship). 'Never get into a relationship because you think you should. Date around and don't get into anything too serious until you find who you deserve.' She then went into a full explanation of how she dated around and at one point, dated three men at once — one in the navy, one in the air force, and one in the military — like a boss."
18.Negative: "My abusive ex always told me the world is a cruel place and the only way to survive it is to grow a thick skin, to let it harden you. One particularly memorable argument he dismissed me by saying, 'Just stay soft then, see what the world does to softness.' And it clicked: He was the cruel one. He was my entire world at the time and I was always too sensitive, too 'soft' to take his treatment of me. And all of a sudden, I was so glad I was. After four years, he had not managed to make me cruel too. I got 'stay soft' tattooed on me so I would never EVER forget how grateful I am for my own soft and gentle nature."
19.Positive: "My dad caught me in a white lie when I was really young. He sat me down and said, 'People who lie are people who are afraid of what the truth may mean. Why are you afraid?' Eerily freeing. Stuck with me since then."
