All of us have found ourselves taken by surprise on a few occasions.
There are good surprises, like a friend you haven't seen for years making a trip to celebrate your birthday, as well as less great surprises, like your boyfriend surprising you with tickets to the hockey game, when he knows full well you hate hockey.
But then there are the moments that truly leave us at a loss for words.
The chapters in our life which, for better or worse, we will never forget.
Things that we would never expect to see or hear in a million years, and which we still might be processing to this very day.
Redditor ZonaPreto was curious to hear the moments in people's lives from which they are still trying to pry their jaws off the floor, leading them to ask:
"What's the biggest shock you've had in your adult life?"
They Never Got To Say Goodbye
"I got a call at work that my wife had been admitted to hospital and that I needed to come to get my children."
"That was all the information they gave me."
"I was at a site about 1.5h drive from the hospital, so I said I'd be there in about 2 hours."
"Finally arrived, and they told me where my kids (14 and 7yo) were."
"Walked in the room and said, 'Hi guys!... What's wrong?'"
"My daughter responded, 'Mom died!'"
"This was more than 22 years ago now, but I still can feel the shock."
"We survived, with a lot of help from friends and family."
"All doing well now."- kamuelak
Queen Bees and Wannabees...
"Some people never grow past high school."- Rad-Cabbage
It Never Really Goes Away...
"How bad grief can actually f*ck you up."- Daddyz-bby-grl
People Have A Way Of Surprising You
"Just found out my wife of 8 years was having an affair with her coworker for a year."- Srslynotjackiechan·
It Could Sadly Happen To Anyone
"Biggest shock was when a friend was killed in a head-on collision by an inebriated driver coming directly at him at high speed."- Back2Bach
Things You Never Want To Hear From Your Doctor
"A brain cancer diagnosis."
"The full expectation that regardless of how long I have left, it WILL come back and it will kill me."- FrogPrinceLuckey
It's Almost Worse When You Know It's Coming
"The day I realized my mother was on life support and that she would soon be taken off."
"Context: My mom's health had been declining for a while, so it wasn't as if was completely out of left field."
"She was young (63), but we had known for years that she was going to be gone sooner rather than later."
"Still, when I got that phone call from my Dad saying that had fallen into a coma and that I needed to get home ASAP, I got off the phone, collapsed on the floor of my office and just laid there and shook."
"I couldn't even get the air into my lungs to wail like I wanted to."
"It was awful."
"Some of my closest friends were coming in from Canada for my birthday and we were gonna hit the town with my girlfriend. Instead, I spent my 30th birthday watching my mother being taken off life support."
"If your parents are worth having in your life, keep them close."
"When they're gone, you notice in a million small ways every single day."
"Especially around this time of year."- NapalmStef
Not-So-Holy Matrimony
"How many people cheat on their spouses and how many of those people don't seem to feel bad about it at all."- compromisedfishstix
"My spouse was f---ing around on me."
"Not just during our marriage, but also while we were dating."
"And not just with a few people."
"Like, f---ing everybody."
"Men, women, coworkers, friends, randos... ev-er-y-bod-y."
"Biggest punch to the gut in my whole life."
"I thought we were forever... oh, such a fool."- ShexyBaish6351
A Literal Shock
"480 volts on a welded contact."- twojs1b
Always At The Bottom Of The Ladder
"I’ve had like nine different jobs, tons of experience in different sectors."
"I’ve been loyal, spent 4 years with one company."
"I can’t get somebody to hire me for the life of me."- im_a_nobody_too
Makes You Kind Of Wonder Where They Got It...
"How popular cocaine is."
"In high school, I thought it was up there with meth."
"Then in college it was more popular but still I thought only hard core partiers took it."
"Then I graduated, got a job in tech finance, and it's EVERYWHERE."
"It's like the most common thing people don't talk about."- bromosa_mimosa
They Think They Know Everything...
"How stupid adults are!"- TheGood1swertaken
Shocking information comes in many different forms.
Sometimes it makes you jump or scream the minute you hear it.
Other times, it takes a good amount of time for the magnitude of it all to actually sink in.
No matter the packaging, however, shocking information has a way of continuing to mystify you till the end of your days.
Elaine Miles/Facebook
@doctor_kristinm/Threads
@PeteHegseth/X
The White House