Many families pass down recipes. Some pass down heirlooms. Other families have chaos in their bloodline. Grandma’s kitchen is thought of as the place where homemade meals and delicious pies are made. But it can also be where violence is cooked up as well.
Recently, TikToker @byliv0317 decided to air out all her family’s lore, starting with one particular story about her grandparents that has the internet equal parts shocked and entertained.
One time, her grandparents got into a really bad fight that escalated beyond raised voices. It got physical. In the heat of the moment, her grandma whacked her grandpa on the head with a frying pan.
She hit him so hard that he collapsed. He lay on the ground, motionless. Of course, she thought he was dead.
So, instead of calling for help, she proceeded to roll his body up in the living room rug, dragged him down to the river, and dumped him into the water.
But apparently, the cold water made him regain consciousness, and they immediately started fighting again. The sheer absurdity of the tale sent people straight to the comments section to express their thoughts and ask a number of questions.
A few even shared their own intensely messy family histories.
“I’d make granny my emergency contact asap. She obviously handles high-pressure situations well,” joked one person.
“Very bold of him to start fighting her again after seeing what she was capable of,” stated another.
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“Getting a new set of frying pans for a wedding gift was practical in so many ways. This is why you always put a cast-iron skillet on your registry,” someone else quipped.
“My grandma put a butcher knife in my grandpa’s stomach, and a few months later, he died. This was back in ’81,” shared a fourth.
“My grandma did the same thing, except she left him on the floor and went to finish her TV show,” added another.
Are her grandparents still together? Did Granny ever get a new rug? What exactly was the type of frying pan she owned? These are the important details that viewers want to know.
Beyond the humor, some commenters pointed out that stories like this reflect how volatile “traditional” marriages used to be. Conflicts were normalized, and serious domestic disputes often occurred.
Arguments that would raise major red flags today were kept behind closed doors. For older generations, divorce was heavily stigmatized, and couples were expected to stay together no matter how toxic things became.
It just goes to show that relationships back then weren’t all sweet love stories, and long marriages weren’t always happy ones.
While @byliv0317 is telling the story with dark humor, she is also acknowledging the chaotic, complicated family history she grew up hearing about. Her viewers are now eagerly waiting to hear more about her family lore.
By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
