Reddit user ChunkyBlaze recently posed the question to the Reddit community, “What is the hardest thing you have ever said no to?”

And, well, some of the answers might make your eyeballs sweat a bit while you’re trying to keep it together, hiding behind your computer monitor. That’s okay. We can pretend like it’s just allergies together.

Let’s start with a light-hearted one about a dying relative and some near life-long guilt:

“When I was five, my grandmother was dying of cancer, I thought it was contagious so when my mom asked me if I wanted go crawl into her bed and cuddle with her on last time, I freaked out and eventually said no. I remember the look of sadness on my grandmother’s face . I wanted to say yes, but I was afraid I’d get her sickness. She died a few days later. I hope she understood I didn’t think she was going to die ( because I was fucking 5). Still wish I said yes. … I took this burden of guilt so hard from kindergarten ’til 5th grade, I was an emotional wreck. Recently i’ve been thinking about it a lot more recently ([I’m in my] mid-20s)—this is the first time I’ve told anyone besides my mom. I feel so much better …” — Reddit user zuckfumies

Yeah, sorry—we totally lied about that whole “light-hearted” thing. Meanwhile, Reddit user Yoshicoon shares their own story about a tough kitty who bid his owner one last, bad-ass farewell:

“A few years ago, I had a cat that was raised in a very strict way. He couldn’t enter the house (except the hall) so he was always quite… wild. Every time I managed to pet him it felt like a privilege (he was older than me so I always had some kind of respect for him). He was the boss in our neighbourhood with his chipped ear and fire in his eyes. Sometimes he disappeared for a day or two but he always came back (sometimes with a new scar, but he was proud of every single one he got). “I was home alone when he left us for the one last time. I heard him scratch the door. He never meowed. I knew he wanted to go out. It was winter and there was a lot of snow so I hesitated but eventually I opened the door. Usually he would gracefully walk out without even looking at me but this time he just stood there and looked me straight in the eyes. I thought he wanted some food so I showed him my hand was empty. Then he booped my fingers with his nose. Usually the nose was a no-no. “Then he just wandered off into the snow. A deep black spot in the sea of blinding white. He didn’t run. He didn’t look behind. Just went straight into the distance. Perhaps he wanted to make it easier for us but I will never forget that furry bastard …” — Reddit user Yoshicoon

But the post wasn’t all melancholy—Reddit user cranberry94 thankfully stepped in and shared her most recent “no”—that damn Belgian waffle truck parked outside her office building:

“Right now, there is a Belgian waffle food truck sitting outside the office. “And I’m inside listening to my coworkers grunt and moan in syrupy ecstasy. “Edit: I never caved. And here’s a picture of my coworker’s waffle. This one was all chocolate, fudge, whipped cream stuff. My other coworker got one with goat cheese, apple and toasted walnuts. I did have a bite.” — Reddit user cranberry94

And now that you’ve got your brain on waffles (…and lunchtime), Reddit user MrHibbityJibb reminds us that money isn’t the most important thing in life:

“$3.3 million dollars. “When my dad was diagnosed with cancer, he needed my wealthy aunt, his sister, to stay afloat. Thing is that my aunt hated my father ever since they were kids. “My grandparents wanted two boys, and treated my aunt like shit for not being one. She never got over this and resented my dad for it. So when he was broke, unemployed, divorced, and dying, she was thrilled to loan him money… in exchange for control over his own day to day life. “The final thing she made him do to pay for his chemo and keep a roof over my head was to convert to her church… He was a lifelong Atheist. He died about a week after beginning the conversion process. “After his death, my aunt made an offer to my brother and me: She would give us each a trust fund of $3.3 million, to be released to us at age 26. However, we had to move to Arizona to live with her, go to the schools that she selected, work jobs that she approves, not date, join her church, etc. The same leash she put on my father, she wanted to put on us, at our most vulnerable time. “We both told her no. I’d be a multimillionaire today if I didn’t. But I’d be the multimillionaire who betrayed his father’s memory.” — Reddit user MrHibbityJibb

Many of the answers on the post were quite simple—but for those of us who can relate, the stories behind that “no” actually contain endless layers of gut-wrenching internal battles.

“A cigarette when I was quitting.” — Reddit user Occasionally_Girly

And for one last good sob, Reddit user DARKSTAIN shares the burden that taking their mother off life support left behind.

“When my mom was on life support. When the doctors asked me if we want her to stay like this. I had to say no for the whole family and her 🙁 I keep living asking myself what if. All the doctors could not have been wrong right…. They gave her no chances. “… There is not a day that goes by that I don’t think about this decision. For 25 years she fought a brain tumor. To show up in a hospital and find out that there is nothing that could be done after 25 years was a shock. It’s difficult for me because I know what a fighter she was.” — Reddit user DARKSTAIN

For more stories about saying no, head over to the original Reddit post here.