Awkward Family Story: The Puzzle

When I was first getting to know my fiance, he had mentioned he didn’t know who his father was until he was 5. Because his mom had remarried while he was very young. As I thought about it, I asked him, “Did you ever question why you had a different last name?” He said, “Nope, because my grandfather had the same last name as me.” So I asked “Well, he’s your grandfather on your mother’s side right?” (meaning that he had his mothers madien name)
He said “Well, sorta” I asked for him to explain. He made me promise not to laugh. So I agreed. He then went on to tell me, “It’s my mother’s mom, see my mother’s father died 2 days after she was born, so she remarried.” I was confused now. How did he have his grandfathers last name if it wasn’t his mother’s father? Well, as he went on to explain, while his mother and birthfather were dating, his mother’s mom and his father’s dad fell in love. So after his mother and birthfather got divorced. His mother’s mom and father’s dad got married. Meaning, His parents are also Step brother and Sister. How awkward.

(submitted by Kathleen)

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140 Responses to “Awkward Family Story: The Puzzle”

  1. Jim says:

    I just suffered a huge anxiety attack after reading that. Thanks a lot… Expect to be hearing from my lawyers soon. And you are also going to be required to pay for my medical bills (E.R. processing, EKG & CT Scan, plus meds). The CT scan was to ensure I wasn’t stroking.

    Please remit payment to:

    ME @ my address,
    My current City, State 12345-6789

    Thanks.

  2. Billy Madison says:

    These stories are junk, and conjured out of thin air.

    • patkerash says:

      yah, I think it was photoshopped

    • RedCrossDude says:

      Tight knit families?

      Keep it in the family. HAHA. xD

    • Chucky says:

      And you could do better?

    • Hannelina says:

      Obviously, you are not from Arkansaw!

      • nona says:

        HAHA!! Oh anon. You are so funny!! If I knew who you were I would try and hang out with you. HAHA!! You make my day. You’re the best person in the world ever!!

    • Veronica says:

      Sadly, stuff like this happens. My aunt (my dad’s sister) married a guy, My grandparents (my dad’s parents) got divorced a few years later. My grandpa met my aunt’s husband’s mother (a widower) and got married. Then my aunt and uncle got divorced. Granted, my grandparents we well into their 60’s when they got divorced, for awhile, my aunt’s mother-in-law was also her stepmom.

    • MandyDahlin says:

      Oh I beg to differ! I’ve seen/heard worse!

      • Alley says:

        I know this type of thing sounds crazy, but my fiance has pretty much the same situation. His mom’s mom married his dad’s dad after his mom and dad were married and now they all live together in the same house. Seems a little creepy, but hey it’s not like they all grew up together.

    • D Mastin says:

      The only extended family I have in within 800 miles is my cousin – who is my dad’s nephew and my mom’s second cousin. (My dad’s sister introduced him to her boyfriend/fiance/husband’s cousin at a party. They hit it off, and she bacame my mom.) Not so uncommon, I guess.

  3. Susan says:

    Sentence fragments. Make it more. Confusing.

  4. Chris says:

    Story of my life! And I am not even kidding!!!

  5. Stacey says:

    Makes me think of Greg and Marcia Brady and the fact that Barry White went on a date with Florence Henderson. Yeah….(sigh)

  6. Meh Mehndelsohn says:

    Not interesting enough to suffer through the convoluted writing style.

    • Hannelina says:

      Basically, she’s saying this: His maternal grandmother married his paternal grandfather, making his mother and his father into step-siblings.

  7. Hannelina says:

    In my family, my maternal great-grandfather and his widowed dad married sisters, making…one hell of a mess in our family tree!

    (For instance, my maternal grandparents are also cousins b/c of this. Oh, and I’m named after the younger of the sisters, btw.)

    • Hannelina says:

      widower, whatever

      • Hannelina says:

        I may have gotten it wrong. My maternal grandparents have a shared set of nieces and nephews who they are both related separately. I don’t know. I told you it made a mess.

  8. GSU says:

    So wait…. who is bring the turnip casserole?

  9. RockitQueen says:

    This sounds like a VC Andrews novel.

  10. Earl says:

    If you don’t think this can happen you haven’t been around the block or experienced real life. This story pales to my life.

  11. Rachel says:

    The writing was far more awkward than the story itself.

  12. Lauren says:

    Actually… this has me really confused. I thought the dad died two days after he was born.. But they got a divorce? Someone please make this a little more clear for me.

  13. Laura says:

    Thanks, my brain just exploded from the confusing faux awkwardness.

  14. Frank says:

    Terrible writing. You forget to laugh because you’re trying so hard to decipher it.

  15. Matt says:

    on my father’s side of the family, his parents were step brother and sister. each of the grand parents opposite parents died and the remaining great grand parents married. that made them step brother and sister. they were teenagers when it happened. and to confuse the family even more, the newly made couple had a son that was half brother to both of my grand parents.

    don’t forget, it was 80 years ago in rural nowhere.

  16. Ma says:

    This happens all the time. My father and my uncle married sisters. My cousins are practically siblings to me!

  17. Cat says:

    These stories are lame. Unamusing. Please stick to photos.

  18. Kimberly says:

    Reading “The DaVinci Code” did not sufficiently prepare me to decipher this story.

    • Terrie says:

      And the Oscar goes to Kimberly for best achievement in ironic writing.
      This response really made me laugh out loud.

  19. LMR says:

    Thank God no one tried to play the game “Six Degrees Of Separation”. I’m no math genius, but I think six degrees would increase exponentially by the time the story was done being told. Damn!

  20. Pike says:

    …sounds like a simple case of compound beaux.

  21. GNWpsycho says:

    So what I want to know is, did you actually end up marrying him?

  22. awesome says:

    Short Version: My Husband’s parents are also Step-Siblings. Awkward!

  23. Erica says:

    I seriously could have written this about my ex-husband. Exactly the same situation and always freaked me out.

  24. Lilly says:

    My mom’s aunt married my dad’s oldest brother. They have a daugther Simone. I call her my cousaunt.

  25. Michelle says:

    That was really confusing.

  26. Bend Beanies says:

    Wait. So technically, any of the people who got married may have been “step” but not blood related? No biggie. Well, I wouldn’t do it, but just sayin’…
    How about the many families where a sibling marries one of their siblings ex’s, so then the kids are half half-cousins, half half-siblings? now that’s awkward. Happened in Michael Jackson’s family, too, I just read.

  27. Janet says:

    wait a minute………….who’s on first again?

  28. Amy says:

    This happened to my cousins. They were married, their parents met, and were also married. Not that weird..

  29. Jan says:

    Well, at least you promised not to laugh.

  30. Sarah says:

    And I am my own Grandpa.

  31. Taylor says:

    I’m sorry, what?

  32. ken says:

    well in my town there is a family that switched husbands… and they are all 4 teachers

  33. Rufus says:

    I’m not from West Virginia, can I have a diagram please.

  34. Franklin says:

    He’s his own cousin! Just like me!! My mom’s mom and my dad’s dad were married AFTER my parents got married…whenever I explain it to people, they ask me if it’s legal…the answer is yes.

  35. Anonymous says:

    For a week I dated the son of my father’s soon-to-be-ex fiancee *Note: No blood relation

  36. Jade says:

    Sounds familiar. There are dozens of such situations in my family tree. Making normal genealogy software deal with my family is a pain for both me and the software. Just to give you an idea:

    I get my last name from my father, like most people. However I get the bloodline *ONLY* from my mother.

    • Angie says:

      “However I get the bloodline *ONLY* from my mother.” I’m confused … ONLY from your mother? What did she do — spawn you? (Because if that’s possible, I totally want to do it to have my own kid …)

      • Jade says:

        By bloodline I mean the bloodline associated with my surname, which normally would come from one’s father. Short explaination: My father is adopted, so while I get the surname from him, I get no associated bloodline/genes from him. On the other hand, my parents’ grandparents were siblings. So I get a diluted portion of the bloodline/genes associated with my surname through my mother, and only my mother.

        (If you think that’s awkward, figure this one out: All the boys on my dad’s [adopted] mother’s side of the family were Feamales)

  37. meghan says:

    my mom used to work with a woman that told everyone in the office how she had a daughter with her husband and a son with her father-in-law. so her son is his sister’s uncle. my mom didn’t know why she would want to tell people about that

  38. j_bryon says:

    Cue: “I’m My Own Grandpa”

  39. Kels says:

    Sounds just like my dad’s family. Here’s the story, as simply as possible: My dad’s parents got divorced. My dad’s brother fell in love with a girl, and got engaged. My dad’s father fell in love with the girl’s divorced mother. My dad’s father and the girl’s mother got married just months before their children’s wedding. My dad’s brother and the girl went ahead and got married anyway. So, technically, they were step-brother and sister when they got married. Yea, AWKWARD.
    I always thought this was a unique situation, but, judging from the other comments here, it’s not as uncommon as it would seem.

  40. Julie says:

    I thought it was confusing when my mother married my uncle (my Dad’s Brother-in-law) and all my cousins because step-siblings, and I live in Wisconsin, not the deep South!

  41. Loryn says:

    Sadly this happened to my bf’s family.twice.
    no lie, his moms father dated is dad’s mom and then when my bfs mom got prego with him they moved to iowa where she started to date her husband (my bfs step dad) and his grandpa married his stepdads mom.

    so…yeah

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