Online Community Discusses Major Bittersweet Situations They've Had Over Their Lives

Aug 24, 2021

Life is full of all sorts of moments — happy ones, sad ones, celebratory ones and also bittersweet ones. Bittersweet moments often have an undercurrent of pleasance but are also wrapped in sadness, longing and even regret. And while they can sometimes be difficult to process, bittersweet moments are uniquely human, and since our emotions are complex, the duality of this kind of feeling is one of the things that can make life truly interesting. 

These bittersweet moments can be linked with nostalgic memories and to reminisce on them sometimes is to remember cherished moments, even if they are inflected with longing. Sometimes people don't wish to bring up these partially painful memories, but when done with support and a respectful audience, it can be incredibly cathartic to open up about these moments each of us have inevitably experienced.

That must have been the idea behind one Reddit user's post earlier this month. Writing on the Ask Reddit subreddit, they posed the question, "People of Reddit, what is the most bittersweet situation you’ve experienced?" There were hundreds of replies, with people sharing these most personal and often heartbreaking stories of theirs. 

It was obviously bittersweet for these people to recall such memories, but on the flip side, the community response was one of understanding and support, with many users sharing that they had experienced similar stories themselves. Often involving loss, love, or regret, these stories have a universality to them that many people can identify with. Let's take a look at what people shared, but just a warning — you might need to get those tissues ready!

One person recalled their mother's last moments in a hospital:

"About ten years ago just before she died of lung cancer, my mom called me by my childhood nickname, told me she loved me and then fell asleep. That was the last thing she ever said to me. I was 35 when she died and she hadn't called me that nickname in maybe 30 years. I still tear up thinking about it."

Yet another person shared a story about a parent dying in hospital:

"Sitting in the hospital room, mom was about ready to pass away from cancer, everything was shutting down internally. The date was my parents' 40th wedding anniversary. The last thing dad said to her was 'Thank you for 40 wonderful years.'"

This user's story was about their grandfather, who spent his last moments in a hospice:

"Oh man. I'm always a sucker for the long love. Amidst a loooong illness in hospice and dementia, that meant he recognized no one, my Grampie still lit up every day when my Grammie showed up. He would turn to whoever else was in the room and say 'ah, I'm just the luckiest fella in the world to have the most beautiful woman in the world to love. I love you, Dolly.'"

"She got to be there when he passed away and she died a few months later. I think she was just waiting for him to go first."

Another person detailed being there when their grandfather passed away:

"Holding my grandfather's hand as he passed away. It was incredibly sad to see him go, but also relieving to see that it was peaceful and that he had been released." 

One major bittersweet moment in life is bringing children into the world and knowing that they will grow up into adults one day and leave the nest. One person wrote:

"Watching my babies grow. Obviously I want them to grow well but if I could just pause time for a bit."

Yet another had the same thought:

"I thought this same thing this weekend. In Kansas City we have an amusement park and a water park that have combined into one now so its Oceans of Fun and Worlds of Fun. Its such an awesome day! You can ride a roller coaster and then go jump in the wave pool and go back and forth. My kids are getting older now and they don't need me as much, in fact there was an hour or so where I was sitting there all by myself."

"Don't get me wrong, I don't mind it, I read a book and even had a nap. But its bittersweet because they don't need you as much anymore. I tell them how I feel though. I tell them I love being with them. I get just as excited as they do to go to the waterpark. At the end of the day we went to the old time diner place in the park and had French fries and milkshakes and in the booth when we were all drinking milkshakes I told them, ah, this is one of the good parts of life!"

Whether it's related to the loss of a loved one, longing for a simpler time, or even emotions filled with regret, these feelings are wrapped up in a lot of sentiments. But the common thread is love, so here's a reminder to cherish those moments while they last.

What did you think of these bittersweet moments Reddit users shared? What is the most bittersweet situation you've ever experienced? Pass this on to your loved ones, so they know you're thinking of them.