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 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. 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 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 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 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 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 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 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, 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 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 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 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. 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 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 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 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 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 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 more listener stories. If you'd like to share your story, call one eight eight eight Secret zero and record your story. 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 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 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. 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 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 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 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 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 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 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, 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 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 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 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. 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 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 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 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 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 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 more listener stories. If you'd like to share your story, call one eight eight eight Secret zero and record your story. 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 my Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.