Your spouse or significant other is someone who knows the essence of who you are, including what makes you tick, the one thing that brings you much joy, and all the weird quirks that only they can overlook as something unique and what makes you, you.
They also know your family drama and relationship histories that even your closest friend may not know.
The point is, that the person you love unconditionally and share your life knows everything about you.
Well, almost everything that you have chosen to share with them. Some individuals in love may harbor sacred information about them that they keep closely guarded for whatever reason.
They're not alone.
Curious to hear from strangers online, Redditor Hiroyaro_yaro_ asked:
"What are some secrets that you've kept from your partner ever since you met?"
Now it can be told.
Good Grief
"My wife and I met at a Christmas lights show about 10 years ago. I mentioned to her that Charlie Brown Christmas was one of my favorite Christmas movies. She asked who my favorite Charlie Brown character was, I told her Snoopy."
"I’ve been receiving Snoopy-themed gifts for years now. I appreciate the thoughtfulness of the gift, but I have no clue how she took that first conversation as me being a Snoopy super fan."
"I love her deeply and I think it would just hurt her feelings if I told her so I just smile and say thank you!"
– CoverYourSafeHand
"This happens. I call it 'Mom Gifting,' even though it applies to more than Moms, I just know so many mothers who it happens to. There is something you like/are a fan of."
"And then every gift ever is just themed after that one thing, people struggle to think of new ideas and go back to the classics, and then you have a pile of stuff that makes you look like a fanatic."
– Never_Gonna_Let
Callous Cats
"When he is traveling and calls home, he asks to talk to our cats via speakerphone. I always tell him they are perked up and around the phone when he is talking but the truth is they don't care."
"It makes him feel loved and missed, but also cats can be a**holes. They do rush him when he is home which is so sweet."
– veridianbunny
Glutton For Punishment
"This is a secret that my husband kept from me for a few years that he ended up revealing before we got married."
"I'm catholic so we met with my priest about getting married in the church. The meeting went well and we went on our way to have lunch together."
"During lunch he reveals to me that he has a secret he needs to let me know. While we were dating and about to meet up he had bought us a bag of chips to share. This bag of chips was the party mix kind with sun chips, Doritos, pretzels, and Cheetos. He usually doesn't care too much about snacks but he absolutely loves the party mix."
"He tells me that while he was waiting for me he thought he would have a few chips and then a few more until he had eaten the whole bag. He felt so guilty and he threw away the bag so I wouldn't know."
"I started laughing and then I laughed harder when I realized our meeting with the priest had prompted this question. One of the things the priest had asked was if he had any secrets that we should let the other person know before getting married, but he had meant major secrets like alcoholism or a gambling addiction, serious enough that you wouldn't marry the person if you had known."
"My poor innocent fiance felt guilty enough to confess his chip eating to me like 5 years after it had happened."
– planetcesium
Running List
"That I started a note page to write the things he told me about himself when we first met and just kept it going so I have a list of something I’ve learned or noticed about him everyday for five years and it’s one of my favorite things to randomly read through, also really helpful around Christmas time and his birthday."
– emohelelwye
It's still a judgment-free zone.
Guise Of Charity
"I have been pretending to not like pickles and olives for years. Once I offered her mine off a sandwich because I was full, and it made her so happy that now it's policy."
– Possible-Series6254
"My partner gets half of my pickles too, but I've told them 'it's because I love you, not because I don't want it' and it's even more appreciated."
– obviousbean
Repeat Viewing
"I asked this guy out for months and he always turned me down. At our local theater the first showing of the day is five dollars, so when it came out I went and saw the Friday the 13th movie (the one with Jared Padalecki that morning) and hated it."
"Fast forward to later that afternoon, and the guy I've been asking out all that time finally asked me out to go see this movie. I (of course) say yes and tell him I've been looking forward to it, and then I pretended to act scared, grabbing his arm during the film that evening."
"I didn't tell him the truth until two years after we were married. It's now his favorite story. 😆"
– steampunk_garage
Personal Shopper
"My wife thinks I'm an amazing gift giver."
"I'm not."
"She just always says what she wants out loud without thinking about it, and I add it to my own personal Amazon cart that she doesn't know I have. On some level, she might know after 14 years, but it's fun all the same."
"That, and I recently reached out to her about my depression and how it's really starting to get in the way of being the man I vowed to be at our wedding."
"She's been just so amazing with it. She deserves the world, and I want to give it to her."
– dudeimjames1234
Restaurant Connoisseur
"When we visit a new city together, I Google the best restaurants and make sure we are close by when he gets hungry. That way he always thinks he has an 'instinct' and stumbles upon the most authentic and local cuisine. Kept a secret for six years and plan to do the same in the future."
– SaltyGrapefruits
Some secrets are too sacred.
Fake Conversations
"That I once pretended to be speaking on the phone with people. All I wanted was for him to think I was popular and that I had more friends than I actually had."
"I sound so crazy now, goddamn it."
– Sashaprettyy
Serial Snacker
"Probably how many snacks I really sneak at midnight."
– bellaslifeee
"When my partner first started losing weight, he was 'tracking' his calories but putting all sorts of sneaky food into his face. The first time I heard him say 'doesn't really count' I told him he could lie to me about it if he wanted (it's his journey and his body, I'm not The Boss) but if he didn't stop lying to himself he was doing all the other uncomfortable sh*t for no reason."
"He was somehow surprised that I knew he'd been 'cheating.' Like dude I'm a 5'3" mostly sedentary woman. If you're 'eating 1400kcal' and not losing weight from 240 lbs, something is going wrong here. And it isn't physics."
– MaritMonkey
What Her Sister Did
"Well I’m recently out of a relationship so might as well mention it. My ex girlfriend’s sister made a move on me during Thanksgiving while we were in the kitchen."
"I instantly denied her sexual advances, and went back outside to hangout with everyone. I never mentioned it to my Ex because I didn’t want that situation to ruin their relationship."
– Material_Pirate_7922
The Big Craving
"We don't always want to eat the same foods. I LOVE fried chicken and crave it often. He hates it in anything other than sandwich form and will not eat the chicken sandwhiches from my favorite chicken places."
"Sometimes, when I am out by myself, I stop at my favorite chicken joint and eat in the car. This is a secret. Not because he would be mad, he wouldn't care, but because he would decide to have a bag of chips and a diet coke for lunch when we usually make sandwiches together. I notice that if I am not there to eat with him, he won't eat."
"So i go home and opt for a salad. He thinks it's my attempt at making healthy choices, but it's just my big backed self trying to hide that I already ate."
– Kittenknickers333
While communication is essential for any healthy relationship, one doesn't have to volunteer information for the sake of full-time transparency.
If it doesn't hurt the relationship, there are exceptions to the rule of keeping some things secret from the other person.
What secrets do you have that your SO has no clue about?
@mikejstarks/Bluesky
@kidringo/Bluesky
@westieworld/Bluesky
@mztee8107/YouTube
@KarenPost-n7/YouTube
@h17636/YouTube
@drandrealove/Bluesky
@thebulwark/Bluesky