December 13, 2019 • 7 mins
In this bonus episode we hear from listeners in the Family Secrets community. To share your secret, call 1-888-SECRET-0.
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Family Secrets is a production of I Heart Radio. I'm
Danny Shapiro and this is family Secrets, the secrets that
are kept from us, the secrets we keep from others,
and the secrets we keep from ourselves. I've heard from
(00:23):
so many about your own family secrets and realize that
what we are creating for each other on this podcast
is a community, a community for those who are looking
for a safe and supportive space to unburden themselves. To
that end, we've created a number for listeners to call
in to record stories to share here in this space.
(00:44):
This week, I'd like to share a few of those
stories from our community. Thanks for listening. My secret is
one that most of my family is aware of if
they have to keep from me for about thirty years
with out even a hint of what it was. Um,
So I grew up without my knowing my father. My
(01:06):
mother always told me that he was just too young
for a child, and when she learned of her being pregnant,
he just disappeared one day. Um it turned out that
he actually wasn't that young. She had told me nineteen.
He was in fact twenty five, and the reason he
disappeared was because he was expecting a child with his
(01:30):
future wife to be UM, so he chose them over us.
So I have a half sister who I grew up
with two towns away from and had known knowledge of her.
I actually only learned her about three years ago when
she herself contacted me. UM. We have since met and
(01:51):
have gotten to know each other. It's been wonderful. But
UM even further tunnels because obviously the learning of this
has opened up a lot of facts and information regarding
my entry into life that I never knew love. UM So,
when my mother became pregnant and my father left, she
(02:12):
actually was institutionalized for the first couple months of her pregnancy. UM.
So that was something I didn't know. And furthermore, we
actually have a third half sister. Both our mothers are
aware of this girl, but neither of them know what
her name is, and my father, our father, is keeping
(02:34):
that information to himself at this time, so we have
no knowledge of her right now. But I have since
spoken to to my father. UM not quite ready to
meet him. It's it's still a pretty raw, sore emotion
that I'm experiencing here. I've only been about three years
(02:59):
with this information, and so and speaking to him was
fairly recently. UM. But yeah, this podcast is pretty great
and it's been extremely helpful as as I go through
this myself. It's definitely been uh kind of a therapy.
So thank you. Hi there. UM. So here's my secret. UM. Recently,
(03:25):
my mother in law passed away. UM. She was diagnosed
with her cancer and less than six months later she
had died. UM. So the secret that I'm keeping is, UM,
that's now that she's gone, I have no dinner with
(03:46):
my husband UM to help take care of my father
in law and who has Alzheimer's, and we have not
told him that she has passed. UM. It's gary to
think that he doesn't know, but we can't risk the
factor or the chance of him um something and having
(04:10):
something worse than having his Alzheimer's become worse than it
is and than him following her to the grave sooner
than UM needed. So that's the secret to me deal
with day constantly. And when he asks where everybody is, uh,
we just say that everybody's okay. That's your safe, You're
(04:35):
at home and everybody is okay. So that's a secret. SPEAK.
I want to thank you for this podcast and the
community that you have brought together. Um, I'm part of
this community, and that I was pretty to a family secret.
(04:56):
Right before I turned twenty one, my mother told me
that I had a full sister. UM. I was raised
as an only child, so this came as a huge
surprise to me. But I found out that my parents
had dated in the high school. My mother had gotten
pregnant and her parents forced her to give my sister
(05:16):
up and she kept that secret from most most of
us UM for twenty years. And once she told me,
she made me keep that secret because she was so
embarrassed by what had happened. She told me I wasn't
(05:38):
to look for her, I was not to tell anyone,
and I kept that secret for more than thirty years.
But my sister got ahold of an ancestry kid and
I was able to find a cousin who put her
(05:58):
in contact with my father, and the day before my
birthday in two thousand eighteen, I spoke to my sister
for the first time, and then I met her on
my birthday this past summer. And I guess what I
(06:19):
wanted to say to the people in this community is
that some of these stories that began with secrets began
with embarrassment and pain can really have wonderful outcomes. My
sister and I have developed a wonderful relationship and we
(06:40):
talked on the phone regularly, and meeting her and her
daughter was just absolutely wonderful and healing, and I wish
for that kind of healing for every listener to this podcast.
It can happen. So again, thank you for bringing this
kind of community together and I look forward to hearing
(07:02):
more listener stories. If you'd like to share your story,
call one eight eight eight Secret zero and record your story.
(07:22):
We won't be able to run all the stories, but
we do want to shine a light on as many
as we can. The number again is one eight eight
Secret and then the numeral zero. For more podcasts for
(07:45):
my Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Family Secrets is a production of I Heart Radio. I'm
Danny Shapiro and this is family Secrets, the secrets that
are kept from us, the secrets we keep from others,
and the secrets we keep from ourselves. I've heard from
(00:23):
so many about your own family secrets and realize that
what we are creating for each other on this podcast
is a community, a community for those who are looking
for a safe and supportive space to unburden themselves. To
that end, we've created a number for listeners to call
in to record stories to share here in this space.
(00:44):
This week, I'd like to share a few of those
stories from our community. Thanks for listening. My secret is
one that most of my family is aware of if
they have to keep from me for about thirty years
with out even a hint of what it was. Um,
So I grew up without my knowing my father. My
(01:06):
mother always told me that he was just too young
for a child, and when she learned of her being pregnant,
he just disappeared one day. Um it turned out that
he actually wasn't that young. She had told me nineteen.
He was in fact twenty five, and the reason he
disappeared was because he was expecting a child with his
(01:30):
future wife to be UM, so he chose them over us.
So I have a half sister who I grew up
with two towns away from and had known knowledge of her.
I actually only learned her about three years ago when
she herself contacted me. UM. We have since met and
(01:51):
have gotten to know each other. It's been wonderful. But
UM even further tunnels because obviously the learning of this
has opened up a lot of facts and information regarding
my entry into life that I never knew love. UM So,
when my mother became pregnant and my father left, she
(02:12):
actually was institutionalized for the first couple months of her pregnancy. UM.
So that was something I didn't know. And furthermore, we
actually have a third half sister. Both our mothers are
aware of this girl, but neither of them know what
her name is, and my father, our father, is keeping
(02:34):
that information to himself at this time, so we have
no knowledge of her right now. But I have since
spoken to to my father. UM not quite ready to
meet him. It's it's still a pretty raw, sore emotion
that I'm experiencing here. I've only been about three years
(02:59):
with this information, and so and speaking to him was
fairly recently. UM. But yeah, this podcast is pretty great
and it's been extremely helpful as as I go through
this myself. It's definitely been uh kind of a therapy.
So thank you. Hi there. UM. So here's my secret. UM. Recently,
(03:25):
my mother in law passed away. UM. She was diagnosed
with her cancer and less than six months later she
had died. UM. So the secret that I'm keeping is, UM,
that's now that she's gone, I have no dinner with
(03:46):
my husband UM to help take care of my father
in law and who has Alzheimer's, and we have not
told him that she has passed. UM. It's gary to
think that he doesn't know, but we can't risk the
factor or the chance of him um something and having
(04:10):
something worse than having his Alzheimer's become worse than it
is and than him following her to the grave sooner
than UM needed. So that's the secret to me deal
with day constantly. And when he asks where everybody is, uh,
we just say that everybody's okay. That's your safe, You're
(04:35):
at home and everybody is okay. So that's a secret. SPEAK.
I want to thank you for this podcast and the
community that you have brought together. Um, I'm part of
this community, and that I was pretty to a family secret.
(04:56):
Right before I turned twenty one, my mother told me
that I had a full sister. UM. I was raised
as an only child, so this came as a huge
surprise to me. But I found out that my parents
had dated in the high school. My mother had gotten
pregnant and her parents forced her to give my sister
(05:16):
up and she kept that secret from most most of
us UM for twenty years. And once she told me,
she made me keep that secret because she was so
embarrassed by what had happened. She told me I wasn't
(05:38):
to look for her, I was not to tell anyone,
and I kept that secret for more than thirty years.
But my sister got ahold of an ancestry kid and
I was able to find a cousin who put her
(05:58):
in contact with my father, and the day before my
birthday in two thousand eighteen, I spoke to my sister
for the first time, and then I met her on
my birthday this past summer. And I guess what I
(06:19):
wanted to say to the people in this community is
that some of these stories that began with secrets began
with embarrassment and pain can really have wonderful outcomes. My
sister and I have developed a wonderful relationship and we
(06:40):
talked on the phone regularly, and meeting her and her
daughter was just absolutely wonderful and healing, and I wish
for that kind of healing for every listener to this podcast.
It can happen. So again, thank you for bringing this
kind of community together and I look forward to hearing
(07:02):
more listener stories. If you'd like to share your story,
call one eight eight eight Secret zero and record your story.
(07:22):
We won't be able to run all the stories, but
we do want to shine a light on as many
as we can. The number again is one eight eight
Secret and then the numeral zero. For more podcasts for
(07:45):
my Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
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