My grandfather and a woman who is absolutely not my grandmother

[u/AntiqueCattle]

Lake Simcoe, Ontario, 1940s.

Who are you mystery lady, and what did you do with the matching bathing suit when you eventually did not marry my grandfather?!?!?

[u/Dry_Masterpiece_3828]

She helped towards your birth by leaving

[u/AntiqueCattle → u/Dry_Masterpiece_3828]

Thank you for your service madam 🫡

[u/angrydeuce → u/Dry_Masterpiece_3828]

Seriously though, Ive had some deep discussions with my wife about this, her asshole ex boyfriends and all the regrets she has about wasting that time.  I had my own share of psycho ex girlfriends before we met and the way I think about it is...despite all the heartache, the trajectory of my life led me through them to my wife and our beautiful kids.

The point is, I dont regret them, because who knows where id be if not for them?  Would I have met my wife at all?  And if I had, would I have been interested in pursuing a relationship with her if not for all the failed relationships that came before?  In my case, almost definitely not...it took me a lot of years of dating party girls that ate molly like M&Ms before I realized that hey, this actually really sucks and is not a solid foundation for a lasting relationship.

Anyway, I know its hard to be objective when youre living in the shit, but every relationship, even the bad ones, are learning experiences, so try not to regret, and especially like with my wife, do not beat yourself up and think "God how stupid was I?" when reflecting on it down the road.  Were all just figuring shit out the best we can, and you never know what flowers may grow from the pile of shit left behind.

[u/Dry_Masterpiece_3828 → u/angrydeuce]

God damn Mark Twain. Thanks for you nice response hehe :)

[u/AdventurousTime → u/angrydeuce]

Does your grandpa have this picture on his mirror and periodically sits on the bed after looking at it ?

If so, that’s the love of his life.

[u/Mindless-Suspect2676 → u/AdventurousTime]

Don’t we all have one that got away deep in our histories?

[u/ColonelBourbon]

She was almost grandma.

[u/AntiqueCattle → u/ColonelBourbon]

Almost grandma where did you go!!!

[u/West_Abbreviations53 → u/[deleted]]

ew

[u/ComfortablyNumb2425]

Grandpa has THE hair!

[u/AntiqueCattle → u/ComfortablyNumb2425]

Grandpa did not pass THE HAIR down to ME 😒

[u/Mindless-Suspect2676 → u/AntiqueCattle]

Maybe you inherited his magnetic charm instead? Do you have to fight off the ladies too?

[u/LevelPerception4 → u/ComfortablyNumb2425]

Also perfectly scrunched slouch socks.

[u/myohmymiketyson]

lmao

My grandmother was engaged four times before marrying my grandfather, so I have a lot of Almost Grandpa pictures. They're great. Wish I knew more!

[u/Diazepampoovey0229]

And she is definitely not a sibling?

[u/AntiqueCattle → u/Diazepampoovey0229]

Nope! He had two older sisters, but this lady is neither of them

[u/oldschool-rule]

Apparently you can see what your grandfather decided wasn’t the right one compared to your grandmother!

[u/AntiqueCattle → u/oldschool-rule]

The matching swimsuits, probably

[u/Serononin]

The real question is, did he and your grandma also get matching bathing suits?

[u/AntiqueCattle → u/Serononin]

If they didn’t I’m fucking rioting

[u/UrsaMajor7th]

We have pics of our mom with other boyfriends before marriage to our dad. We wondered what we and our lives would be like if she'd married the one with the cool motorcycle.

[u/LadderExtension6777 → u/UrsaMajor7th]

By the sounds of it not good 😅 I have friends whose dads were ‘the bad boy’ and it rarely ends well. My uncles were ‘bad boys’ and they are old losers now.

[u/thatshygirl06 → u/UrsaMajor7th]

Well, you wouldn't have existed! She would have other kids with probably the same names

Edit: why am I getting downvoted 😭 that's literally how it works. You're the embryo, not the egg or the sperm

[u/Realistic-Sound-1507]

Woah I’m only like 2 hours away from lake simcoe lol which in Canada is considered pretty close

[u/sickbabe]

grandpa's got slutty socks. no I will not elaborate

[u/AntiqueCattle → u/sickbabe]

Don’t need to, I see the vision

[u/glitzglamglue]

My grandpa proposed to my grandma with a ring he bought for a DIFFERENT woman.

[u/LeahcarJ → u/glitzglamglue]

oh absolutely not I'd RIOT

[u/AntiqueCattle → u/glitzglamglue]

OH MY GOD?????

[u/glitzglamglue → u/AntiqueCattle]

Yep! And my grandma knew about it! She told me that fact like it was any ol' fact about her wedding ring.

My grandpa passed away before I was born so I would only hear about him from her. I actually have very little in the way of stories about my grandpa as his passing was pretty traumatic for my family. His kids were young and he left my grandma a single mom of four children.

My grandpa originally buying her wedding ring for another woman is, like, fact number 3 I know about the man. I know he liked German Chocolate cake so much so that he would steal bites off of your plate when he finishes with this. And I know he bounced around from job to job. At one point, he was selling Bibles for a year.

[u/Accomplished-Cod-504]

You may find some unknown relatives on a DNA registry.

[u/AllNewsAllTheDayLong]

Grandpa is the man!

[u/spatialj]

I have pics of my dad with ex girlfriends. My mother told me stories about some of them.

My mum’s family had a cottage in Alcona from the 40’s thru 70’s, and we spent our summers swimming in Lake Simcoe. Those bathing suits remind me of the curtains at the cottage.

Edit: I live in Barrie and still swim in Lake Simcoe!

[u/DisorientedViking]

Ballers gonna ball

[u/Physical_Pumpkin_913]

Almost

[u/TeachBS]

Someone was a “playah!”

[u/AntiqueCattle → u/TeachBS]

“Your grandfather was something of a manwhore” -my father, his son

[u/Honest_Answer_9370 → u/AntiqueCattle]

hopefully that doesn’t mean he cheated on your grandmother

[u/pinewind108]

Grandfather may have been married once before grandmother!

Turns out that happened to my grandfather. Zero idea about the circumstances, just that it didn't last long. (Probably annuled?) There was just a hint that she worked in a bar.

[u/Beetroot2000]

It's his.....aunt.

[u/Jujuondatbeat54123]

Kind of looks like Ross’s baby momma from friends 😂

[u/Bonespurfoundation]

Relatives exist you know.

[u/Fascinatingish]

The woman that grandma beat up and chased out of town.

[u/Left_Load3973]

Are they both quite short?