Making Connections

Hello! 👋 send me a text message! Tell me what your thoughts 💭 are about this episode

Nearest And Dearest Podcast is my hope that maybe, my stories will resonate with you! I still believe today, that if any of my content connects with you personally, it's priceless! 🫶 It's a testament to the strength of our shared human experience, one that even caught the attention of alcoholfree.com, where my stories provide solace to those embracing an alcohol-free lifestyle.
I'm humbled when I receive text messages, emails, reviews or even chats from you! S3E2 Making Connections is a shout out 📣 🤩 to you! I believe the magic 🪄comes from making human connections through sharing life experiences all across the world! 🌎
I'm grateful & blessed to have you experience yours with me. ❤️
LINKS!
🚨SEND ME AN EMAIL 📧 🚨Any suggestions, or share your own story 👉 [e-mail]

https://www.alcoholfree.com/  Dive into their website full of articles, videos & podcasts. 

Episode Transcript

Julie Rogers (00:05):
No one ever said life is easy, but I believe by
giving yourself permission, youwill find you have more control
over your life than you realize.
I'm Julie.
I hope you will join me bytaking responsibility for
yourself, by only controllingthe things you can and letting
go of the things that you can't.
By doing this, you will havediscovered the secret to having

(00:30):
happy, healthy and morefulfilling relationships.
This is Nearest and DearestPodcast.
I'm Julie Rogers and you arelistening to Season 3, episode 2
, making Connections.
When I decided to put thispodcast together three years ago

(00:51):
, I felt the need to share mypersonal story.
I really didn't know how thatwas going to look.
I had navigated through so muchin my life up to that point,
but I was in a very goodheadspace.
I had clarity.
I felt a compelling urge to putmy voice out there and share

(01:13):
what I have experienced.
My family and friends know alot of the details, the good and
the bad.
This podcast was my hope thatmaybe, just maybe, my stories
will resonate with you.
I still believe today that ifany of my content connects with

(01:36):
you personally, it's priceless.
I'm humbled when I receive textmessages, emails, reviews or
even chats from you.
I received my first writtenfive-star review from jrcomins1
through PodChaser.

(01:56):
For those of you who don't knowwhat PodChaser is, it's just
another platform for people tocheck out podcasts like Apple
Podcasts, spotify or AmazonMusic any of these platforms you
can listen to Nearest andDearest Podcast.
This is what she said.
Quote "love your podcast.

(02:17):
Owning my truth.
Check out your podcast fromFacebook.
And it is the first time I haveever listened to any podcast.
I can relate that I had asimilar experience with Ancestry
.
com when I received an emailfrom my daughter asking if an
email she received was true.

(02:38):
A young man had sent her anemail saying he was a DNA match
to her family.
The email made me recall pastfamily details I had not
recalled in years.
Indeed, my daughter, Jaimie,was related to the young man and
, in fact, he was my nephew andmy sister's son, whom she had

(03:03):
given up for adoption many yearsago.
Short story my sister and herson finally connected and we now
have another branch to thefamily we had never thought
existed.
Very happy we took a DNA testand established a connection my

(03:24):
sister and her son had secretlyhoped to find for many years.
Very happy, you were able toconnect to your birth father.
May God bless us all.
"This next connection came from a
co-worker who worked with mybrother, Steve.

(03:44):
I have never met Mary Ellenbefore, but we had corresponded
in the past about her husband'sdelicious honey, he raises
honeybees that I was introducedto her.
My brother Steve brought mehome a jar when I was looking
for honey to help me with myallergies and anyways, she sent

(04:05):
me this wonderful email.
Hi, Julie, Steve and I werechatting last night and somehow
got on the topic of podcasts andhe mentioned you had one.
I listened a bit last night andagain this morning and I just
loved it.
Honestly, you had me in tearstalking about your mom's illness

(04:28):
.
Of course, I know a lot of thestory from Steve and the
heartbreak you all endured.
You are such a good storytellerand I look forward to hearing
more.
Mary Ellen.
Linda R, another listener whoreached out to me this past fall

(04:49):
, asked me if I would share somemore information about my trip
to Italy that I shared last Juneand July.
Remember Discovering My ItalianRoots, part one through four.
Linda sent me this email HelloJulie, my husband and I will be
traveling to visit Italy nextyear.
My dad's family came fromGuardia, Piemontese in 1921 and

(05:14):
I'm having difficulty findingplaces to stay while we are
visiting this area/ village.
Sadly, my dad and grandparentsare deceased.
It would be wonderful if youcould provide any insight to
places we can stay.
Our time in Guardia Piemonteseis October 8th through the 10th

(05:37):
2024.
Sincerely Linda R.
I was delighted to assist herby sharing the details where we
stayed in Guardia.
I gave her some more insightsthat might help her as well.
She followed up with me withanother thoughtful email.
Hello, Julie.

(05:58):
Thanks so much for sharing yourItaly, Guardia Piemontese
information with me.
It truly helps as we make thearrangements of our final day in
Italy.
Knowing that this area in Italyis not as popular as other
northern and coastal areas, Ihave enrolled in Babbel to learn

(06:20):
Italian thinking.
That way, within a year timeframe, I should be able to
communicate somewhat effectivelywith the locals.
Fingers crossed, I will also goto AAA, as you suggested, for
maps etc.
As we are also AAA members too.

(06:40):
Being a second generationAmerican, I am excited to walk
the streets and see the areawhere my paternal grandparents
and all my previous Italianancestors lived.
Again, thanks for yourinvaluable information.
Sincerely, L inda R.

(07:03):
Making connections shouldn't belimited.
Another purpose for Nearest AndDearest Podcast is finding
connections that transcendscultures.
Very recently I found a website, alcoholfree.
com, that is listing my ownepisodes on their website

(07:25):
platform.
Not sure how they found mylittle podcast, but they have
found value in my show.
I was not expecting anotherwebsite, especially one that I
didn't even know existed wantedto share my content with their
customers.

(07:45):
Some info I learned when Iwanted to know more.
It was co-founded by John Risby, who stopped drinking alcohol
in 2004.
He was searching for morechoices in what to drink.
He came up with the idea of anonline shop dedicated to all

(08:07):
things alcohol-free.
By 2006, after a year ofresearch and planning, the
alcohol-free shop was launchedin England.
The more I delved into thisorganized website, the more I
realized that they aren" justselling non-alcohol beverages to
their customers.

(08:28):
They understand the dynamicstheir customers are experiencing
in their lives.
So I go to their searchbrowsers.
It's quite a list.
I go to listen and I click onit.
The headline is Podcasts toHelp you Smash your Goals and it

(08:48):
goes on to say choosing toreduce or stop drinking alcohol
can feel like entering unknownterritory.
It's common to feel isolatedand even afraid.
Podcasts let us learn, connectand feel inspired by people with
similar experiences.

(09:11):
I kept scrolling down and thenext headline read Not Only
Alcohol Free.
So I wondered what does thatmean?
So I kept reading.
Here's what it said.
We know alcohol isn't the onlyissue and it rarely exists in
isolation.
It goes on to say you'll alsofind podcasts on related

(09:33):
subjects such as mental health,diet, finance and more.
So at this point I saw thesearch engine and I decided to
put in Nearest And DearestPodcast.
And guess what?
There it was.
I believe the magic comes frommaking human connections through

(09:55):
sharing life experiences allacross the world, and I'm
grateful and blessed to have youexperience yours with me.
The views and opinionsexpressed by Nearest And Dearest
Podcast are those of theauthors and do not necessarily
reflect the official policy orposition of Nearest And Dearest

(10:19):
Podcast.
Any content provided by JulieRogers or any other authors are
of their opinion.
They are not intended to malignany religion, ethnic group,
club, organization, company,individual or anyone or anything
.
Thank you.