WEBVTT - Bonus: Listener Stories, Episode 22

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<v Speaker 1>Family Secrets is a production of I Heart Radio. Hi

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<v Speaker 1>Family Secrets. Family. It's Danny and we're back with an

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<v Speaker 1>episode of listener Messages. Here are some stories recorded by

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<v Speaker 1>you are wonderful devoted listeners. I'm honored and grateful that

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<v Speaker 1>you're part of my world. Hi. I found out at

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<v Speaker 1>five years old that my father is not my biological father,

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<v Speaker 1>that he and my mom used a storm downer for

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<v Speaker 1>my brother and I after learning that he couldn't produce children.

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<v Speaker 1>All I remember was taking me for a drive and

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<v Speaker 1>sharing the news and I went hysterical, saying, no, I

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<v Speaker 1>look like you, I look like you, and um him

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<v Speaker 1>just affirming that I don't, but that he still loved me.

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<v Speaker 1>Fast forward, as he's about a year later. I did

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<v Speaker 1>take the DNA test and have been connected with several

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<v Speaker 1>of my half siblings, and just two weeks ago, one

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<v Speaker 1>of the half siblings I connected with has information on

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<v Speaker 1>our sperm donor. And this man was the doctor who

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<v Speaker 1>went to Alaska and just so to pay off his

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<v Speaker 1>loans for medical school, but showed up with an attitude

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<v Speaker 1>of helping the community, singing and dancing with the people

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<v Speaker 1>at their festivals, and unfortunately, on his seven hour snowbile

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<v Speaker 1>drive to the hospital, was caught in the worst snowstorm

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<v Speaker 1>and over twenty years and was killed and never found

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<v Speaker 1>his body. He shared a photo which was very, very

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<v Speaker 1>shocking because he looks identical to my brother. So to

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<v Speaker 1>learn who I came from and that he's no longer here,

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<v Speaker 1>all in a matter of moments was quite a shock. Thankfully,

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<v Speaker 1>I've been in touch with his family, who have been

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<v Speaker 1>open and receptive, and it's been quite a wild, wild journey.

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<v Speaker 1>We believe there's about eleven of us children that came

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<v Speaker 1>from his firm donation. I'm thankful this podcast because hearing

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<v Speaker 1>it has been very healing, through very emotional in crazy time.

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<v Speaker 1>Thank you. I love Inheritance and loved the podcast. My

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<v Speaker 1>father never mentioned his family. We only knew, or we

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<v Speaker 1>thought we knew, that his parents died in the nineteen thirties,

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<v Speaker 1>and so about five years ago we embarked on a

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<v Speaker 1>personal family history quest and in a pair of ship records,

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<v Speaker 1>we discovered that my Italian immigrant grandparents arrived at Dallas

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<v Speaker 1>Island in the early nineteen twenties. In the nine thirty centses.

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<v Speaker 1>We found that this family of four, my grandparents, my

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<v Speaker 1>father and his brother had a very tenuous footholds on

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<v Speaker 1>the American Dream, and then based on what few family

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<v Speaker 1>stories there were, UM, we all always assumed that my

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<v Speaker 1>grandparents died sometimes shortly thereafter in the nineteen thirties, because

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<v Speaker 1>my father never mentioned any members of his family, and

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<v Speaker 1>we thought we had a dead end there, and he

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<v Speaker 1>passed away about twenty five years ago. UM. When the

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<v Speaker 1>census was released, my grandparents magically reappeared. UM. But that's

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<v Speaker 1>not kind of the worst. UM. They were both listed

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<v Speaker 1>as inmates UM in separate places of the sentences record

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<v Speaker 1>after Rockland Insane Asylum. Fast forward through a few more

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<v Speaker 1>years of research, and we discovered that they had actually

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<v Speaker 1>lived unmentioned by my father for any of the time

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<v Speaker 1>that that he was surround, That my grandfather actually lived

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<v Speaker 1>until nineteen and my grandmother lived until two thousand and two,

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<v Speaker 1>and all of this was unknown to any of them.

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<v Speaker 1>And we discovered subsequent to them that they were both

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<v Speaker 1>buried in unmarked grade. So we're left with a huge boy.

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<v Speaker 1>We've been trying to find out what happened. But New

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<v Speaker 1>York State is horrendous when it comes to releasing health

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<v Speaker 1>records of dead people and so what happened? You know,

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<v Speaker 1>who are these people? How did their lives go so crazy?

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<v Speaker 1>What happened to make my dad walk away from his family?

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<v Speaker 1>Those are some of the secrets that we're trying to

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<v Speaker 1>get to the bottom up. Hi, Danny, I just wanted

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<v Speaker 1>to thank you so much for creating a wonderful podcast

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<v Speaker 1>that has helped me so much. It has helped so

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<v Speaker 1>much that I wanted to share my family secret with you.

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<v Speaker 1>When I was nineteen, I found out that the wonderful

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<v Speaker 1>man who raised me was not my biological father. When

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<v Speaker 1>I went to my mom to talk to her about this,

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<v Speaker 1>she gave me and I will use fake names. These

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<v Speaker 1>are not people's real names. Um, but I've got to

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<v Speaker 1>assigned so names because it gets a little confusing. She

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<v Speaker 1>told me that my biological father will say his name

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<v Speaker 1>is John Doe. And she told me that when she

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<v Speaker 1>found out she was pregnant, she told John Doe that

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<v Speaker 1>she was pregnant, and he told her he was not interested,

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<v Speaker 1>that he was engaged to be married to another woman.

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<v Speaker 1>So then she went to the man who raised me

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<v Speaker 1>told him that she was pregnant, and he said, well, um,

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<v Speaker 1>it's probably not mine. Because I was in Vietnam and

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<v Speaker 1>I was exposed to agent Orange, so I'm medically syrile.

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<v Speaker 1>The man who raised me, though, told my mother that

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<v Speaker 1>he would marry her and that they would raise me

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<v Speaker 1>as their own, and they would never tell me. So anyway,

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<v Speaker 1>I really had no interest in reaching out to John

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<v Speaker 1>Doe because, um, I mean, he had already rejected me

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<v Speaker 1>once my father, who raised me. My birth certificate father

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<v Speaker 1>passed away about ten years ago. And when COVID hit, um,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, we were in lockdown, quarantined and a little bored,

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<v Speaker 1>and so I decided to take an ancestry DNA test.

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<v Speaker 1>When the results came back, I did not match with

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<v Speaker 1>John Doe or the man who raised me. I matched

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<v Speaker 1>with another man entirely, and we'll just call him Mike.

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<v Speaker 1>So when I spoke with my mom, um, she had

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<v Speaker 1>no memory of a man named Mike, and um, long

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<v Speaker 1>story short, I finally ended up reaching out to Mike.

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<v Speaker 1>He called me back and has been so wonderful and open,

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<v Speaker 1>caring and loving throughout all of this. He has reassured

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<v Speaker 1>me that had he known about me, he would have

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<v Speaker 1>done everything in his power to have been part of

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<v Speaker 1>my life. Of course, this has been crazy, a wild

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<v Speaker 1>ride and it's been amazing. And this past weekend I

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<v Speaker 1>got to go and meet him um and I found

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<v Speaker 1>out that I have two other half sisters that I

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<v Speaker 1>was also able to meet for nieces and the nephew.

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<v Speaker 1>So life is great and I just wanted to share

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<v Speaker 1>my story with you guys. H We'll be back with

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<v Speaker 1>season five of Family Secrets beginning April one. We will

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<v Speaker 1>be sharing these listeners stories from time to time and

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<v Speaker 1>also more great bonus content between now and then, so

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<v Speaker 1>hope you'll listen in. If you'd like to share your story,

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<v Speaker 1>call one eight eight eight Secret zero and record your story.

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<v Speaker 1>We won't be able to run all the stories, but

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<v Speaker 1>we do want to shine a light on as many

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<v Speaker 1>as we can. The number again is one eight eight

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<v Speaker 1>eight Secret and then the numeral zero. For more podcasts

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<v Speaker 1>from my Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app,

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<v Speaker 1>Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows