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Speaker 1: Well, guys, it's time now for today's Strawberry Letter and listen.

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Speaker 1: If you need advice on relationships, dating, work, sex, parenting,

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Speaker 1: and more, please submit your Strawberry Letter to Steve HARVEYFM

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Speaker 1: dot com and just click submit Strawberry Letter and we

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Speaker 1: could be reading your letter live on the air, just

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Speaker 1: like we're going to read this one right here, right now. Okay,

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Speaker 1: buggle up and hold on tight. We got it for

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Speaker 1: you here. It is the Strawberry Letter. Thank you, nephew. Subjects.

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Speaker 1: I don't think we're really cousins. Dear Stephen Shirley. In

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Speaker 1: high school, I liked a girl and she liked me.

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Speaker 1: We talked on the phone and hung out together all

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Speaker 1: the time, and her mom and my mom were close too,

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Speaker 1: so she always was at my house or I was

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Speaker 1: at hers. By the time we graduated from high school,

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Speaker 1: we were even closer, and I told her that I

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Speaker 1: wanted her to be more than my friend. She's always

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Speaker 1: been really close to her mom and tells her everything,

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Speaker 1: so she told her mom that she and I were dating.

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Speaker 1: Her mom told her that I was her cousin. When

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Speaker 1: she told me we were related, I felt strange because

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Speaker 1: we had kissed a few times, we never questioned it.

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Speaker 1: Though we stopped dating and remained very close cousins, we

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Speaker 1: still did everything together and told each other everything, and

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Speaker 1: by the time we were in our mid twenties, we

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Speaker 1: both had a bunch of bad relationships and always ended

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Speaker 1: up back together. I realized that I loved my quote

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Speaker 1: unquote cousin and she's a perfect woman for me. So

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Speaker 1: I finally asked my mom if we were really related.

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Speaker 1: My mom said, we're related somewhere down the line, but

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Speaker 1: there is no way for us to find out now

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Speaker 1: because all of the older relatives are deceased. I told

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Speaker 1: my mom that I'm in love with her and I

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Speaker 1: want to be with her. My mom told me to

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Speaker 1: follow my heart. I couldn't wait to tell my cousin

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Speaker 1: how I really felt, and I was relieved when she

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Speaker 1: told me she's been in love with me forever. Since then,

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Speaker 1: we've made love a few times, and I asked her

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Speaker 1: to marry me. She wants to do a search of

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Speaker 1: our family tree first. I don't think we're cousins and

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Speaker 1: this is only postponing our happiness. Should we search for

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Speaker 1: answers or not? Well, I'm with you on this one.

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Speaker 1: I don't know. I just don't believe your guys are cousins.

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Speaker 1: I don't believe. I think maybe you know, her mom

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Speaker 1: told her that because she didn't want you guys dating

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Speaker 1: for whatever reason. And you know, I don't want you guys,

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Speaker 1: not because I don't want it to be true or anything.

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Speaker 1: I just don't believe your mom. Both of them are

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Speaker 1: telling the truth. Even your mom said you were related

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Speaker 1: somewhere down the line, she didn't even know, and she

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Speaker 1: said there's no one in your family to validate it.

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Speaker 1: But I mean, there are ways you can search to

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Speaker 1: find out. It's just, I don't know, suspicious the way

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Speaker 1: they handled everything and the way they told you, and

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Speaker 1: for that very reason, Yes, I think you should find

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Speaker 1: out if you're related. I think you should do the search.

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Speaker 1: I mean, knowledge is power. The truth will set you're free.

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Speaker 1: What if you want to have children down the line,

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Speaker 1: you know this is something you should know, whether or

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Speaker 1: not you're related. There's a lot to consider. You need

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Speaker 1: the fact so you can make an informed, a clearheaded,

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Speaker 1: right decision, and nothing just based on your emotions. Like

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Speaker 1: your mom told you, just to follow your heart. It

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Speaker 1: sounds like you don't care though, if your cousins are not,

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Speaker 1: and your mom certainly doesn't care. But your girl wants

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Speaker 1: to know and it's important to her. So I think

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Speaker 1: you should do the search, and you know, whatever you

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Speaker 1: guys find out, let the chips fall, you know where

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Speaker 1: they may. I don't think you're really cousins. I don't know,

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Speaker 1: and if you find out that you're not, then you

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Speaker 1: can move forward. Steve, Well, this is a short response

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Speaker 1: for me because I don't even understand. There's no advice

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Speaker 1: to give in this letter, like you don't know him,

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Speaker 1: Gonna have sections while I break down what somebody said

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Speaker 1: and what the other person said. It's none of that

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Speaker 1: in here. And he just wants to know should they search?

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Speaker 1: That's his question. Anyway, It ain't about that to me.

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Speaker 1: If if your mother, if the woman that she's really

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Speaker 1: close to, and y'all been over each other's house, if

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Speaker 1: that ain't your mother's sister, and and that woman that's

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Speaker 1: not for the sister, this girl that you're dating, and okay,

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Speaker 1: let me let me put you the woman and your

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Speaker 1: mama are not sisters, and then her daughter is the

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Speaker 1: woman you love that ain't your cousin. So now that's

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Speaker 1: established right down now, this, y'all cousin somewhere down the line.

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Speaker 1: Black people know who it's happening. If all of them

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Speaker 1: is dead, Black people know who it's happening. Now. What

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Speaker 1: didn't happened is one of the men in the family

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Speaker 1: and straight off somewhere had a child out of wedlock,

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Speaker 1: and one of your aunts or mama's is them. Now

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Speaker 1: that everybody dead? Stuff? Y'all got bibles? Opened up my

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Speaker 1: old bibles and read who who? You ain't gonna see

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Speaker 1: your name in now? Now once you don't see your name,

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Speaker 1: This is an open and shut case. I ain't know

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Speaker 1: all the old people dead, well, hot man, So what

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Speaker 1: are we talking about here? So? I don't really think

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Speaker 1: it's a case of if you do the search, what

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Speaker 1: you're gonna find, you're not gonna find anything. And y'all,

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Speaker 1: you in love with the girl. She in love with

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Speaker 1: the girl? I mean she in love with you? I

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Speaker 1: mean what, y'all? What if they want kids? They're too

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Speaker 1: far down the line for that to affect anything you're saying.

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Speaker 1: I think they're way way down. Let me tell you something.

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Speaker 1: It was something dangerous. The boy's mother not have said

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Speaker 1: follow your heart, but the other mothers was the one

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Speaker 1: that said their cousins. I think she said it because

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Speaker 1: she didn't want them to date. She just said that, Well, okay,

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Speaker 1: tell her mom asked her, ask her mama how, But

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Speaker 1: she can't didn't even tell how these She can't even

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Speaker 1: tell how these other two is related. The two women

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Speaker 1: want their relationship. They're just they're they're just really close

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Speaker 1: and only okay, well that ain't your cousins. Yeah, but

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Speaker 1: they did it. You do know they did it right? Yes,

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Speaker 1: they said it in the letter. Yes, it's in the letter.

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Speaker 1: We'll have part two of Steve coming up at twenty

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Speaker 1: three minutes after be our subject, I don't think we're

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Speaker 1: really cousins. We'll get back into it right after this.

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Speaker 1: You're listening Steven Show. All right, come on, Steve, let's

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Speaker 1: recap today's interesting Strawberry letter. Her subject, I don't think

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Speaker 1: we're really cousins. All right. This guy was in high school.

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Speaker 1: He liked a girl and they she liked him. They

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Speaker 1: talked on the phone, hung out together all the time.

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Speaker 1: Her mom and my mom were close to so she

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Speaker 1: was always at my house. Never once in this letter

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Speaker 1: does it say her mom and his mom was related.

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Speaker 1: By the time they graduated high school, we were even closer.

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Speaker 1: I told her want to be more than friends. She's

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Speaker 1: always been really close to her mom and tells everything.

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Speaker 1: So she told her mom she and I were dating.

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Speaker 1: Her mom told her I was her cousin. But your

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Speaker 1: mama ain't related to this. To the boys, mama, they're

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Speaker 1: just climbed. So now where that come from? When she

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Speaker 1: told me we were related, I felt strange because I

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Speaker 1: had kissed a few times. I have a question that

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Speaker 1: told we stopped dating and remained close everything together. Then

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Speaker 1: they went through a bunch of bad relationships and always

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Speaker 1: ended up back together. And then he said, I realized

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Speaker 1: I loved my cousin and she's a perfect woman for me.

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Speaker 1: So this dude go and ask his mom if they

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Speaker 1: really related. The mother said, y'all related somewhere down the line,

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Speaker 1: but there ain't no way to find out because all

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Speaker 1: the older relatives are dead. Well, okay, what was we

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Speaker 1: talking about? This folk? I told my mom that I'm

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Speaker 1: in love with her and I want to be with her.

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Speaker 1: My mom told me to follow my heart. So then

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Speaker 1: he ran and toldly girl who as he thinks his cousin,

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Speaker 1: how it really felt, and he was relieved when she

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Speaker 1: told me she'd been in love with me forever. Well

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Speaker 1: then since then they'd have made love a few times,

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Speaker 1: and I asked her to marry me. She wants to

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Speaker 1: do a search of our family tree first because she

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Speaker 1: don't want to come up and get in bass. You know,

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Speaker 1: then half of these people you think it's dead, gonna

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Speaker 1: show up at the wedding. Well, ain't this strange? You know,

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Speaker 1: I'm est uh Ru's least Bartholom inside. They all have

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Speaker 1: an old slave man names and everything. First, all of

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Speaker 1: you Frederick, you know Frederick was your aunt great great

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Speaker 1: great great uncle, Frederick Frederick Douglas. Boy, you got a

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Speaker 1: afro just like him. You don't be a good So

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Speaker 1: she wants to do a search and to think. And

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Speaker 1: he said, I don't think we're cousins, and this is

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Speaker 1: only postponed in our happiness. Should we search for answers

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Speaker 1: or not? Okay, let me explain something to your son.

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Speaker 1: When you get through searching, it ain't gonna change one

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Speaker 1: thing you feel about this girl. Come on board. When

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Speaker 1: you get through searching, it ain't gonna race the fact

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Speaker 1: that y'all in love with each other and y'all been together.

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Speaker 1: It ain't gonna race nothing, no matter what the search say.

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Speaker 1: And if you find out you somewhere way down the line,

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Speaker 1: how far down the line is it? Now? How many

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Speaker 1: people got to die? Save all your evidence is dead?

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Speaker 1: Down the line is dead. But your mother and her

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Speaker 1: mother ain't even related? So what are y'all talking about? See?

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Speaker 1: I think her mother didn't want them to date because

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Speaker 1: immediately when she told him that, they stopped dating. If

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Speaker 1: there's no relation between the two friends, well that could

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Speaker 1: be happening because maybe they're just friends and the two

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Speaker 1: kids is in other families. Yeah, I mean, yeah, that's

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Speaker 1: a possibility. You know. That's why I don't think their cousins.

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Speaker 1: I don't think it will hurt anything to do the

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Speaker 1: search because we see the problem with that is we're

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Speaker 1: talking about two mothers. Though. See, once you have mothers involved,

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Speaker 1: ain't know you ain't in the family. What you mean

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Speaker 1: this woman is the mother of the boy, is the

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Speaker 1: mother of the girl, right, So how are these two

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Speaker 1: kids related? How am I missing something? It could be

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Speaker 1: through Could it be through marriage? I don't know. Marriage

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Speaker 1: two women were married to the same brothers or some friends.

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Speaker 1: That could happen. But yeah, I don't think they're I

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Speaker 1: just don't think they're related. Test you take. You had

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Speaker 1: a test one ancestry doctor. That's it right there. I

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Speaker 1: just did one. I just did a test. I just

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Speaker 1: did it. I had people do mind from me. So

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Speaker 1: that's what I'm saying. You don't have to have living relatives,

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Speaker 1: you know. So his mom said, everybody's dead to prove

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Speaker 1: whether or not there I can find stuff on my

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Speaker 1: mother's side, but it goes back to my father and

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Speaker 1: it stops. So if down the line ain't here, you

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Speaker 1: can steal a fan out. We're going. Yeah, he loved her, though,

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Speaker 1: what's what's gonna happen? Yeah, Yeah, she loves him. She

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Speaker 1: wants she's the one that wants to know. I mean,

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Speaker 1: you do have to consider which, Yeah, you have to

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Speaker 1: the children and everything. You know. Are you out, Steve?

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Speaker 1: You're done well, I'm told yeah, because you got awfully quiet.

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Speaker 1: Right there is hard to raise anyway. Ain't that the truth?

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Speaker 1: You said? Yeah, you're gonna have a situation with him

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Speaker 1: if ain't nothing wrong with him. All right, Listen, guys,

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Speaker 1: you can leave your comments on today's letter on Instagram

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Speaker 1: at Steve Harvey FM and check out the Strawberry Letter

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Speaker 1: podcast on demand now coming up in ten minutes, we'll

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Speaker 1: have some headlines and some trending topics, and we'll do

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Speaker 1: that right after this. You're listening to the Stave Harvey

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Speaker 1: Morning Show.