I Asked My Grandmother to Walk Down the Aisle at My Wedding — My Family Demands That I Apologize for It
Just days before her wedding, Leah discovers that her grandmother didn’t have a wedding. Unable to sleep due to her grandmother having missed her opportunity, Leah wants her grandparents to have their moment and walk down the aisle. Instead of it playing out as Leah plans, she has to deal with a grandmother in a wedding dress, an embarrassed grandfather, and livid family members. Did she ruin her own wedding just to give her grandmother a memory?
“Tell me about your wedding, Gran,” I asked, rocking back and forth on the porch swing. The night was quiet, and we were a week away from my wedding.
A person sitting on a porch swing | Source: Midjourney
All I wanted to do was soak up the time I had left with my grandmother because once we were married, Nate and I would be moving away.
“Oh, honey, there wasn’t really a wedding. Your grandfather always promised, but it never happened,” she smiled, her eyes distant.
A smiling old woman | Source: Pexels
“Never?” I asked, frowning.
My grandmother shook her head.
“No. He didn’t even propose, Leah,” she said. “He always said that we’d get around to it eventually, but life just kept getting in the way. We raised our kids, took care of the house, and before I knew it, decades had passed.”
A woman washing dishes | Source: Unsplash
“But you are married, right?” I asked, trying to understand why my grandmother’s words felt like such a blow to me.
“Married, yes. Your grandfather took me down to the courthouse, and we signed away our single lives. He didn’t ask me; he just said that it was going to happen. And it did.”
The exterior of a court house | Source: Unsplash
My heart ached for her.
“But you wanted one, right? A wedding, I mean,” I pressed.
Her smile was wistful.
“I did, but I let go of that dream a long time ago. Now, come on, I’ll make you some hot chocolate before you leave.”
Two mugs of hot chocolate | Source: Midjourney
Later that night, when I went back home to my fiancé, I couldn’t sleep at all. My grandmother’s words replayed in my mind, and I felt a deep sadness for her unfulfilled dream.
By morning, I had an idea. It seemed perfect. To me, everything was good. Everything made sense.
A woman lying in bed | Source: Unsplash
“Nate, can I run something by you?” I asked my fiancé over breakfast.
He nodded, looking up at me and smiling.
“What if Grandma walked down the aisle at our wedding?” I asked.
Eggs and bacon in a frying pan | Source: Midjourney
“Leah, what on earth do you mean?” he asked, sipping his coffee.
I sat across from him, nibbling on some toast, and I told him everything that my grandmother told me the previous night.
A man holding a mug | Source: Unsplash
“So, you’re saying that you want your grandmother to walk down the aisle in a wedding dress?”
“Yes,” I said, getting more excited by the idea. “We could get her a simple dress and some flowers. And she could walk down the aisle. It would be like giving her a piece of the wedding she never had.”
Nate smiled at me, the smile reaching his eyes.
An old woman in a wedding dress | Source: Midjourney
“Leah, what on earth do you mean?” he asked, sipping his coffee.
I sat across from him, nibbling on some toast, and I told him everything that my grandmother told me the previous night.
A man holding a mug | Source: Unsplash
“So, you’re saying that you want your grandmother to walk down the aisle in a wedding dress?”
“Yes,” I said, getting more excited by the idea. “We could get her a simple dress and some flowers. And she could walk down the aisle. It would be like giving her a piece of the wedding she never had.”
Nate smiled at me, the smile reaching his eyes.
An old woman in a wedding dress | Source: Midjourney
A hanging garment bag | Source: Midjourney
She gasped quietly, tears welling up in her eyes.
“Oh, sweetheart, I couldn’t…”
“Yes, you can,” I said firmly, handing her a bouquet of flowers. “I know that you’re married to Grandpa already, but this is part of your dream. Let’s make it happen.”
A bouquet of flowers | Source: Unsplash
She hugged me tightly, nodding against my ear. I asked another one of my bridesmaids to take my grandmother to one of the other dressing rooms so that she could take in the moment for herself.
Next, I asked for my grandfather to come to my dressing room.
A bride in a dressing room | Source: Pexels
“Grandpa, we’re going to have Grandma walk down the aisle today. Like a bride, okay? You guys can have your moment. And it will be beautiful because we get to share the day.”
He snorted, immediately dismissive.
An upset old man | Source: Pexels
“Leah, that’s ridiculous,” he said. “At our age? It’s more a mockery than anything else.”
I was taken aback by his reaction.
“But it’s something that Gran has always wanted.”
Instead, he waved me off.
“I’m not interested, Leah. We are here for your wedding. That’s it.”
An old man holding a cane | Source: Pexels
Despite his refusal, the ceremony proceeded. I knew that I should have tried to convince him harder, but there wasn’t any time.
As the music started, my grandmother stepped onto the aisle, with me watching her from behind.
“It’s okay,” I told her before. “You just do it alone if you have to. Walk to Nate, and then you can take a seat at the front. And then it will be my turn to walk to my future husband.”
A groom | Source: Unsplash
There was confusion when Gran started walking down the aisle, especially because she wasn’t walking toward my grandfather, but to Nate instead.
As she walked, guests gasped, unable to comprehend what was going on.
My grandfather’s face turned red, and he stood up abruptly. He looked me straight in the eye as he stormed out of the venue.
An old man with his mouth open | Source: Pexels
I felt a pang of guilt but quickly refocused my attention on my grandmother, who had hugged Nate and was beaming with joy.
When she sat down, my entrance music began, and I walked down the aisle bursting with love for Nate. I hadn’t expected him to be okay with any of it, but the fact that he was just made everything more magical.
“Hey there,” he said as he took my hand when I reached the altar.
A couple at the altar | Source: Midjourney
The rest of the ceremony went off without any hiccups, and whenever I turned to look at my Gran, she had her little handkerchief in her hands ready to dab her eyes.
But then, everything changed after the ceremony.
It started with my nephew crashing into the table holding the champagne glasses, leaving glass everywhere.
Shattered glass | Source: Pexels
And then, instead of my family coming to me and throwing confetti on Nate and myself in celebration, they did the exact opposite.
My parents pulled me aside, my mother tugging harshly at my arm.
“What were you thinking, Leah?” she hissed. “You embarrassed your grandfather with that childish stunt. Why does it always have to be about you?”
An angry woman | Source: Pexels
“It wasn’t about me!” I protested. “It was about Grandma and her dream. She deserved this moment as much as I did. As much as you did when you got married, too.”
“And what about your grandfather?” my father chimed in, flagging down a waiter with canapes as he spoke. “You made a good old fool of him.”
But it didn’t stop there.
An angry man | Source: Pexels
My relatives kept coming up to me, agreeing with my parents. They didn’t even allow me to eat my first meal with Nate as his wife or have our first dance together.
It was all about them and how they thought that I had ruined my grandfather’s mood, and was it worth it?
“Of course, it’s worth it!” I told my mother’s sister when she slid into the chair next to me. “Anything for Gran!”
“It’s okay,” Nate said, as he pulled me into his arms, my tears threatening to escape.
A bridal couple standing together | Source: Pexels
“Did I ruin our wedding?” I asked him.
“You did no such thing,” he reassured me. “I’ll get the car, we can go to the hotel. We’ll take your grandmother, too. I’ve seen how everyone has been circling her.”
Later that night, I sat with my grandmother in her hotel room. Nate had booked her a room for the night.
A parked black car | Source: Pexels
“Spend time with her,” he said. “Let her know that you truly meant today as a way of healing her. She needs to know that. You can come to me later.”
“Did I do the right thing?” I asked, my voice trembling.
I knew that in my heart, I had done the right thing, but it was the way everyone else reacted.
My grandmother took my hand, her eyes full of gratitude.
Two woman sitting together | Source: Pexels
“You gave me a moment I never thought I’d have, Leah. Thank you, darling.”
Her words comforted me, but the rift with my family remained. They demanded that I apologize to my Grandpa, who doesn’t want to see me.
All I knew is that I cannot bring myself to regret giving Grandma her moment.
A smiling woman sitting on a bed | Source: Pexels
What do you think? Did I do the right thing?
I Came Home to See My Furniture Put up for Grabs — My Ex-husband’s Petty Revenge Backfired Spectacularly
After Brendan, my husband, and I decided to split, he turned into a completely different person overnight. The man I once knew, the one I shared years of my life with, had vanished altogether.
In his place stood someone bitter and spiteful.
A couple arguing | Source: Midjourney
“You’re complaining about how I behave? About how I speak?” Brendan shouted.
“I’m just saying that you need to calm down when you’re talking to me. Screaming won’t make your point come across better,” I said, holding my head.
“Oh, please, Gina,” he bellowed louder. “You made me this way! All of your ridiculous demands and constant whining. Please, just go live your life.”
An angry man | Source: Midjourney
And so I did.
But as the divorce was in process, Brendan and I tried to sort out our things, ready to make a clean break.
“Just let me pack these things up, Gina,” Brendan said one day as he was going through my bookshelf.
“You’ll just take my things with you,” I countered. “I have to settle my own things first.”
“Suit yourself,” he said.
An angry woman standing in front of a bookshelf | Source: Midjourney
But things only got uglier. And the emotional rollercoaster had me in a constant state of nausea and uneasiness. So, I decided that I would spend the weekend at my parents’ house to clear my head.
“Yeah, run away to your parents,” Brendan said snidely as I packed an overnight bag.
“They’re better than you,” I said, walking out the door.
An angry woman standing in a doorway | Source: Midjourney
And honestly? It was the right call. I needed space to process everything, including the fact that I was going to be alone for the first time in twelve years. As much as Brendan and I needed to be apart, I couldn’t see my future clearly.
I also just wanted my parents to baby me for the weekend.
“Oh, Gina,” my mother said as she took out a tray of delicious roast lamb. “All you need to do is eat and rest. Whatever you want to eat, just tell me and I’ll make it. And if you want anything from the store, just tell Dad. He’ll do a quick run for you.”
A tray of food | Source: Midjourney
I exhaled slowly. I was exactly where I needed to be.
“Are you sure a divorce is the way to go?” my father asked me over dinner.
“Yes,” I said sadly. “I think that if there was a time to reconcile, it was a long time ago. And we definitely missed it. Brendan and I can’t see eye-to-eye anymore. I don’t think that there’s any more love left.”
A close up of a woman | Source: Midjourney
“You do what you need to do, baby,” my mother said. “If your mental health is screaming for a clean break, then that’s exactly what you need to do.”
I allowed myself to take long walks, taking Pippy, my parents’ dog, with me. I just wanted to clear my head and allow myself the space I needed to breathe.
“You’re doing the right thing,” I told myself. “There’s nothing wrong with a fresh start.”
A woman walking a dog | Source: Midjourney
But as I pulled into our driveway on Monday morning, ready to find Brendan and his things gone, I found something even more shocking.
All my furniture, everything that I had collected from before I met Brendan and some things while we were together, was scattered all over the lawn. A large, hand-painted sign that read “Free Stuff!” stood proudly in front of the chaos, inviting anyone passing by to help themselves to my belongings.
Furniture scattered on a lawn | Source: Midjourney
“What the actual hell is this?” I muttered, slamming the car door shut.
This just couldn’t be real. I stared at my coffee table, the couch I found at a flea market, and even my grandmother’s old rocking chair. All of it, just sitting there, baking in the sun, waiting to be snatched by strangers.
I kicked the sign so that it lay flat. And then I pulled out my phone, my hands shaking wildly as I dialed Brendan. The phone rang three times before he finally picked up.
A woman holding a phone and frowning | Source: Midjourney
“Hey, what’s up, Gina?” he answered, his voice casual, almost smug.
“What’s up?” I echoed. “What’s up?”
“Yeah, that’s what I asked,” he said.
“Are you kidding me? Why is all my furniture on the lawn? Are you absolutely out of your mind?”
There was a pause before he replied.
An annoyed woman | Source: Midjourney
“You were going to sue for all my money anyway,” he said. “I heard you on the phone with someone. I know that you wanted everything. Or at least half of everything! So you might as well know how it feels to lose what’s yours.”
I was speechless.
Sure, I had thought about taking him for a ride and having my share of his money, but the weekend away with my parents taught me to just let it go.
A frowning woman | Source: Midjourney
“You’re absolutely unbelievable,” I finally managed to say. “You think this is going to solve anything? You’re just making things worse for yourself.”
He scoffed loudly.
“Whatever. It’s your problem now. Maybe you should charge people for your things instead of letting them take it for free.”
I wanted to scream, but I knew that it wouldn’t do any good. Brendan had made up his mind, and like any dog with a bone, there was no reasoning with him.
An angry man on the phone | Source: Midjourney
I hung up the phone and looked at objects from my life scattered across the lawn. There was no way that I could haul all the furniture back inside by myself. Defeated and frustrated, I kicked the bedside table that I had gotten and repainted months ago.
As it hit the ground, I heard a jingling noise.
“What now?” I sighed, crouching down to open the drawer.
Hand-painted bedside tables outside | Source: Midjourney
Inside, I found something that made me smirk despite my anger.
“Stupid Brendan,” I said, seeing that he had forgotten to take his things out of the bedside table.
Nestled among the loose change, random pens, and receipts was Brendan’s father’s watch. It was a family heirloom that he loved and cherished and barely wore for fear of losing or breaking it. It had also been passed down through generations, finally landing with Brendan.
A vintage watch | Source: Midjourney
But now, I had it hostage.
“Checkmate,” I said to myself.
I couldn’t help but feel a small sense of satisfaction as I tucked the watch into my pocket. After all, he was the one who had put it out there for free. I wasn’t stealing anything.
Then, I texted my friend group, asking everyone who was available to come and help me take everything back into the house.
A woman using her phone | Source: Midjourney
“Brendan is the worst, Gina,” my friend, Jenny, said holding a lamp. “This is a new low.”
“Yeah, I agree with you there,” I said. “But don’t worry, I’ve got a way to get back at him.”
I told her all about the watch and how I had it safely tucked away in my car. I knew that it was just a matter of time before Brendan realized that the watch wasn’t with him.
A woman holding a standing lamp | Source: Midjourney
Later that evening, as I was arranging the last of the furniture, my phone buzzed. It was him.
“Hey, Gina,” he said. “I think I might have left something important behind. Can I come by and grab it?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” I said, grabbing another slice of pizza from the box in front of me.
“Please,” he said. “It’s just the bedside tables.”
A box of pizza | Source: Midjourney
“Look, the neighbors came over and took a few things. The bedside tables are gone, too. But if you’re polite enough, I’m sure Cathy will sell it back to you.”
There was a long pause.
“Gina, it’s my dad’s watch. My granddad’s watch. I really need it back.”
I let the silence stretch out for a moment before saying anything.
“I see. Well, like I said, it’s with Cathy. But I’m sure she’ll be reasonable. You know, for the right price.”
A close up of a woman | Source: Midjourney
He knew I was bluffing. I could hear it in his voice. But there was no way that he could prove it, and I wasn’t about to let him off the hook easily. Nope. Brendan needed to fight for it.
“How much?” he asked.
“How much do you think it’s worth?” I asked. “A few hundred dollars, maybe?”
“Fine,” he said through gritted teeth. “Just get it back.”
An upset man | Source: Midjourney
“I’ll do my best, but no promises.”
After hanging up, I held the watch and turned it over in my hands. If we had a son, he would have been handed the watch. But thankfully, we were splitting before we had a chance to think about kids.
The next morning, Brendan showed up while I was sitting on the porch and drinking a cup of coffee.
“Here,” he said, giving me an envelope. “$500. But you know how priceless it is.”
A woman sitting on a porch | Source: Midjourney
I nodded.
“Thanks. You can leave now,” I said.
“I’ll get in touch with you about the divorce. My lawyer has some things to discuss with us.”
“Cool,” I said simply.
Brendan did a double-take, but he took the watch from me and walked away slowly, almost as if he wanted to say something but just couldn’t get the words out.
A man walking down the driveway | Source: Midjourney
What would you have done?
If you enjoyed this story, here’s another one for you |
In-Law Billed Me $695 for Moth Damage after Using My House like a Storage Unit – I Gave Her a Reality Check
For five years, Andy and Sarah had given up their guest bedroom, turning it into a storage room for her parents’ belongings. But once the couple discovered that they were pregnant, they asked the older couple to remove their things, causing unnecessary friction and a surprise reward.
Five years ago, my in-laws just wanted to downsize their house. So, they set out to look for the perfect little house just for the two of them.
“We have too much space and too many things,” my father-in-law, Greg, said.
A cozy living room | Source: Midjourney
So, naturally, they asked if they could store some of their stuff in our house for a while.
“It’s just the things that we want to keep, darling,” Greg told my wife, Sarah.
We both didn’t mind it, and we had a guest room that we didn’t use.
A stack of cardboard boxes | Source: Midjourney
“Sure, Dad,” my wife said. “The guest room is all yours temporarily.”
The key word here is temporarily.
But guess what? They never took their stuff back. Instead, they just kept bringing more.
A growing stack of boxes | Source: Midjourney
For a while, Sarah and I used to joke about the guest room and how it had turned into a storage unit in our own home.
A person using a vacuum cleaner | Source: Midjourney
Read the full story here.
This work is inspired by real events and people, but it has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
The author and publisher make no claims to the accuracy of events or the portrayal of characters and are not liable for any misinterpretation. This story is provided “as is,” and any opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.
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