Secrets Hidden Within
She sat in her hospital bed surrounded by beeping machines as she held her newborn baby. She was worn out after giving birth but thrilled to have her son in her arms.
She wasn't sure what to think when her husband walked over and handed her a box she had never seen before. The secret that her mother had taken with her to her grave was locked inside it.
A Happy Couple
Katrina's hands trembled as she held the pregnancy test in her hands and reached for a second one to make sure. The second test only confirmed it- she was pregnant.
She struggled to contain her excitement as she rushed to tell her husband, Danny. Just as the couple thought things were finally starting to go their way, they received devastating news.
A Few Months Left
Joanne, Katrina's mother, recently scheduled a visit with her doctor after feeling unwell.
Sadly, the biopsy results brought terrible news that nobody wanted to hear: she had an aggressive form of lung cancer. She had only a few months left since it was terminal. Katrina and Sarah, her sister, were distraught.
Never Be Able To Meet
Katrina had a hard time processing the news. She could not stomach the idea that her mother, who had been by her side her entire life, would soon be gone forever.
To make matters worse, her mother wouldn't be there when her baby boy was born. She would never be able to hold her grandson, and he would never get to meet her. She sought support from her sister.
Sisterly Bond
Katrina and Sarah shared a unique sisterly bond, so it was only natural that they sought solace in each other when they learned of their mother's shocking diagnosis.
In those last few weeks, they were determined to put on brave faces and spend as much time as they could by their mother's side. Katrina was utterly oblivious to the secret their mom carried.
Battling Emotions
Understandably, Katrina was struggling with her feelings. She couldn't balance the joy she felt about being pregnant and the anguish of losing her mom.
This was meant to be one of the best times of her life. Yet she was incapable of fully feeling it while her mother was gradually being taken away. When the day finally arrived, she was numb.
Losing The Battle
Katrina and Sarah watched as the strong and brave woman they had known all their lives wasted away into a shell of her former self. But they had to stay strong for her.
The day finally arrived when their mother lost her battle with cancer. They bid her a sorrowful farewell and stayed by her side until the end. But their mother still had one more surprise in store.
Carrying On
Katrina lost her mother six months before her due date, and she was heartbroken that she wouldn't be there to meet her grandson. Nevertheless, life carried on.
Katrina's pregnancy progressed as planned. She gave birth to a beautiful baby boy on Friday the 13th of that May. Despite giving birth surrounded by her sister, husband, and other loved ones, someone was still painfully missing. But there was a surprise awaiting them.
They're Called The Ingham Family
Sarah, Katrina's sister, is a well-known YouTube vlogger. Since she and her husband had millions of subscribers to their channel, Katrina's birth was also shared with the world.
However, nobody knew about the special pact Sarah and her mom made before Joanne passed away. It was now time to make it public.
Secret Box
For six months, Sarah had kept her mother's secret. Joanne had given Sarah specific instructions for the day of the baby's birth just shortly before she died.
Sarah handed Denny the box and instructed him to deliver it to Katrina, who was still recovering in her hospital bed. She waited for her baby boy to be weighed and cleaned.
Capturing Everything
Katrina sat in the hospital bed holding her newborn baby. She was exhausted from the birth but so happy to finally have her son in her arms. Sarah kept the camera rolling for the bittersweet moment that followed.
Denny walked over to his wife and baby and handed Katrina a box she’d never seen before. Inside was the secret her mother had taken to her grave.
Big Reveal
Katrina untied the black ribbon, opened the box, and immediately began to cry. A whiff of her mom’s favorite perfume and a gift. She carefully lifted out a baby onesie and read the embroidery on the back - the name ‘Harrison’.
Katrina could hardly breathe through the tears. Her beloved late mom had named her son from the grave.
The Plan
You see, when Katrina and Sarah had found out about their mom’s terminal illness, they still desperately wanted her to be a part of her grandson’s birth.
So the sisters had come up with a heartbreakingly beautiful plan. Just before Joanne passed away, Sarah asked her to name Katrina’s baby so that she could be a part of his life - even if only in spirit.
The Heartbreaking Video
"My name was handpicked by Nanna Joanne in heaven," the back of the onesie read.
The video of the heartfelt name reveal was uploaded to Sarah’s YouTube channel with the description: “Due to our mum being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer just a couple of months before my sister found out she was pregnant, my sister made an incredible decision.”
A Beautiful Gesture
Sarah continued: "Wanting our mum to have an important part in [her grandchild's life], my sister decided my mum was to choose the name and was to tell it to me just before we had to say goodbye to her.”
"My sister and her partner wanted the name to be a surprise until the day their baby was born, so his name is a secret I have been keeping for the last 6 months." But that’s not all.
Lifelong Secrets
This is not the first time someone takes a secret to their grave, nor will it be the last one. It happens more often than you may think. Even those closest to you may keep things secret from you that you won’t know until they’re gone forever.
Anyone, and particularly those who were raised at a time when certain things were not tolerated, can keep deep secrets. That’s what happened in the next story:
“I’ve Done Some Wicked Things”
"I've done some wicked things," she muttered on her deathbed. Those were some of the last few words she said to her family before passing away.
For years, they wouldn’t know what exactly she meant by that. Until one day, one fortuitous encounter changed everything. They could have never expected something like that from their granny.
Fern Britton
Fern Britton, aged 65, is a well-known British television presenter, famous for having conducted the cookery game show Ready Steady Cook between 1994 and 2000 on the BBC.
Her grandma had an interesting background and story that she was more or less aware of. However, there was something about her he never suspected until one fateful day.
Beryl Hawkins
Britton was born in London, but a part of her family was born very far from the United Kingdom. One of such members was her grandmother, who “was christened with many names, but the one she chose to use was Beryl Hawkins.”
Britton defines Beryl as tough and independent, and states that she “would today be known as a proud feminist.”
Globetrotter
Grandma Beryl was born in Mauritius; she was the daughter of a British soldier deployed to the island. Then, she moved to Penang, a British dependency on the Malay Peninsula.
That’s where she met her husband, Britton’s grandfather, who was a prosperous rubber plantation owner. Britton’s mother and uncles were born on the island. However, the family’s destiny would soon take a turn.
London
Before the outbreak of WWII, Beryl and her kids moved to London, where they would settle down; but Beryl’s husband stayed in Penang.
He later became involved with the local government and became a prisoner of war in the notorious Changi jail. But for the next few years, Beryl and the kids carried on with their lives in London, where Britton was born.
Fantastic Grandmother
Britton remembers Beryl as “a wonderful parent and a fantastic grandmother - always making me fancy dress outfits and knitting jumpers for my dolls or teddies.”
“She would tell the most tremendous stories about her life and travels on banana boats, playing bridge to earn her passage,” she recalls. Little did she know, she concealed one secret that she would take to her grave.
Smuggler
“When we came back from trips via the boat train from Southampton, she would always smuggle something into the country,” Britton recounts.
“Queuing in the huge customs sheds, she'd feel faint or have a funny turn just as she reached the front of the queue. Everyone would rush around in concern, and they'd push us through without checking her bags.”
Unexplainable Behaviors
“Back on the train, she'd open her handbag, and there inside would be a watch or two. She would have made a wonderful spy!” Britton says.
But that wasn’t all. There were some other details about Beryl that made her an enigmatic and intriguing person. Sometimes, she would do certain things that seemed unexplainable to everyone around her.
Lying About Her Age
“She pretended to be older than she was,” recalls Britton. “When she sent us to the local corner shop to buy her 20 Kensitas cigarettes, the lady behind the counter would always say: "Isn't she wonderful, your grandma, for an 82-year-old?”.
“In fact, she was only 67 when she died. But the eccentricities that delighted me as a child might have revealed there was guilt”. But Britton wouldn’t find out until years later.
Confession
“I’ve done some wicked things,” Beryl said to Britton’s mother during her last moments, before passing away at age 67. Those were some of the last few words she ever uttered. But what did she mean by that?
It would all be revealed by Britton’s random letter from a stranger, years later. Britton had published a novel inspired by her grandmother’s life. Someone read it and spotted some uncanny signs.
A Mysterious Letter
One day, Britton received an anonymous letter. It was a man who had seen her on TV and read her novel. He asked if her parents were Ruth and Tony Britton; she answered that those were indeed her parents’ names.
"This might be a shock," he wrote back. "But I think I'm your uncle - your grandmother was my mother.
Proof
“I wrote back asking for proof,” Britton says. “And he sent me a clearly treasured batch of letters and photographs, showing him as a small boy on the beach with, quite unmistakably, my grandma.”
“Before her marriage to my grandfather, my grandma had become pregnant. This must have been immediately after the First World War,” Britton reveals.
A Hidden Story
“All we know is that she had a little boy, and gave him to a family in some kind of private fostering arrangement. She never forgot him and wrote many letters sending money and asking after him.”
“She even went to visit him and had photographs taken with him as a toddler. Though when she married and went to Penang, it seems the letters stopped. She had to block him from her new life.”
She Left Him Stranded
“As her little boy grew up, he decided to try to find her - and he did. When she opened the door to him, she must have panicked. She called for my uncle to close the door on him and tell him never to come back.”
“My uncle never knew he had turned his own half-brother away. Despite this, my secret uncle grew up, married and raised a loving family. He never appeared bitter, though his mother's rejection, especially when he was older, must have been deeply painful.”