1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:04,640 Speaker 1: Family Secrets is a production of I Heart Radio. This January, 2 00:00:04,800 --> 00:00:07,720 Speaker 1: Danny's taking Family Secrets on the road. To get your tickets, 3 00:00:07,840 --> 00:00:19,720 Speaker 1: visit Danny Shapiro dot com. I'm Danny Shapiro and this 4 00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:23,080 Speaker 1: is Family Secrets, the secrets that are kept from us, 5 00:00:23,480 --> 00:00:26,439 Speaker 1: the secrets we keep from others, and the secrets we 6 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:31,080 Speaker 1: keep from ourselves. I've heard from so many about your 7 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:34,360 Speaker 1: own family secrets and realize that what we are creating 8 00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:37,800 Speaker 1: for each other on this podcast is a community, a 9 00:00:37,840 --> 00:00:40,120 Speaker 1: community for those who are looking for a safe and 10 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:44,720 Speaker 1: supportive space to unburden themselves. To that end, we've created 11 00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:48,320 Speaker 1: a number for listeners to call in to record stories 12 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:52,440 Speaker 1: to share here in this space. This week, I'd like 13 00:00:52,479 --> 00:00:54,800 Speaker 1: to share a few of those stories from our community. 14 00:00:55,320 --> 00:01:02,240 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening. Hi, Danny, Um. I related to your 15 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:06,000 Speaker 1: whole story of inheritance because we kind of went through 16 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:08,520 Speaker 1: a similar journey with our family in the last couple 17 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:12,399 Speaker 1: of years. My sister and I have always noticed that 18 00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:15,680 Speaker 1: my dad is just beautifully dark compared to his siblings, 19 00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:18,200 Speaker 1: and my sister sat down and did the Mass in 20 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:21,600 Speaker 1: high school and realized Dad was conceived when my grandpa 21 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:25,399 Speaker 1: was deployed away in the Navy. UM our aunts had 22 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:28,160 Speaker 1: kind of secretly mentioned to us that they overheard an 23 00:01:28,240 --> 00:01:32,280 Speaker 1: argument between our grandparents when they were young about UM 24 00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:36,000 Speaker 1: fighting about my dad and his teenage behavior problem, and 25 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:39,400 Speaker 1: grandma said, well, I still know where he lives, should 26 00:01:39,400 --> 00:01:42,360 Speaker 1: he go live with him? And my aunt's just inferred 27 00:01:42,440 --> 00:01:47,280 Speaker 1: that obviously my dad maybe has a different dad. Well, 28 00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:50,880 Speaker 1: my grandma passed away in two thousand. She would be 29 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:53,320 Speaker 1: who we would ask questions you now as well if 30 00:01:53,320 --> 00:01:56,800 Speaker 1: we were wondering, But she's not here to ask. My grandpa, 31 00:01:56,880 --> 00:02:00,040 Speaker 1: who has raised my dad now has been mentioned, so 32 00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:03,400 Speaker 1: it's not right to ask him or to try to 33 00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:07,560 Speaker 1: involve him in something like this. The sisal private, and 34 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:12,240 Speaker 1: so for fun we got our parents ancestry DNA kits, 35 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:17,400 Speaker 1: and sure enough, nothing of who we know to be 36 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:20,240 Speaker 1: my dad's relatives came up, but a whole bunch of 37 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:27,320 Speaker 1: Spanish and Cuban relatives started popping up that UM confirmed 38 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:31,799 Speaker 1: that my dad has this beautiful, dark ethnicity to him 39 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:34,120 Speaker 1: that we kind of always joked about when we are 40 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:39,800 Speaker 1: this Midwestern, supposedly Irish family. UM. Well, we sat on 41 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:43,239 Speaker 1: our results for about a year and finally went down 42 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:46,520 Speaker 1: the research hole online you know, Google and Facebook, and 43 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:49,040 Speaker 1: we ended up finding out dad has two half brothers 44 00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:53,040 Speaker 1: in Florida. UM. His biological dad passed away in the eighties, 45 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:56,280 Speaker 1: but we actually got to fly down to Florida and 46 00:02:56,320 --> 00:03:00,120 Speaker 1: needed his family, the biological family of my dad, and 47 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:04,040 Speaker 1: obviously my dad came with and it was actually incredibly 48 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:06,799 Speaker 1: healing and we were shocked at how welcoming they were. 49 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:10,120 Speaker 1: And I think it's brought a lot of peace and 50 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:13,400 Speaker 1: closure for our whole family. But you know, it's something 51 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:15,560 Speaker 1: we just kind of knew in our gut this whole time. 52 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:19,000 Speaker 1: Even my dad said he always wondered and something that 53 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:24,320 Speaker 1: was real. Thank you, Hi. I just stumbled upon your 54 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:29,360 Speaker 1: podcast not long ago and I've been binging all the episodes, UM, 55 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:32,360 Speaker 1: and I have a family secret to share as all. 56 00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:36,160 Speaker 1: So UM. When I was ten, I got sick. I 57 00:03:36,240 --> 00:03:39,840 Speaker 1: was told that I had non cancerous tumor in my 58 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:43,600 Speaker 1: lungs and that they successfully removed it, and I moved 59 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:46,760 Speaker 1: on with my life. UM. I spent a lot of 60 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:49,160 Speaker 1: time at the local children's hospital, often in me I 61 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:51,800 Speaker 1: see you. During this time, UM. As I got older, 62 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:55,520 Speaker 1: family were referred to this time as a time when 63 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:58,720 Speaker 1: I was quote sick. But when I was fifteen, I 64 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:01,080 Speaker 1: developed a cough to turn out to be a mild 65 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:05,000 Speaker 1: case of pneumonia. But before being told this, my parents 66 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:11,400 Speaker 1: seemed extremely anxious, and I couldn't understand why. I was 67 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:14,440 Speaker 1: beginning to get very frustrated with what appeared to me 68 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:20,320 Speaker 1: to be them hovering and having this overconcerned. When it 69 00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:23,479 Speaker 1: was confirmed that I had pneumonia, they sat me down 70 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:27,720 Speaker 1: and explained why they were acting the way they did. UM, 71 00:04:27,760 --> 00:04:29,599 Speaker 1: And they told me I had actually had a rare 72 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:33,120 Speaker 1: form of cancer when I was ten, not some small, 73 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:38,240 Speaker 1: non cancerous tumor in my lung um, and they thought 74 00:04:38,279 --> 00:04:40,960 Speaker 1: these symptoms of pneumonia meant a return of my dies. 75 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:44,960 Speaker 1: I of course, had no idea that I was a 76 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:48,000 Speaker 1: cancer survivor. Yet when I brought it up to people 77 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:51,040 Speaker 1: around me, including people outside of my family like old neighbors, 78 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:54,719 Speaker 1: they all knew this about me. UM. To this day, 79 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:58,000 Speaker 1: it's still something we don't really speak of. Uh. We 80 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:01,400 Speaker 1: refer to my juvenile cancer as again a time when 81 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:04,080 Speaker 1: I was sick. It's a part of my life that 82 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:10,880 Speaker 1: I lived, Yet I feel as though I didn't live. Hi. There, 83 00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:14,320 Speaker 1: I'm calling about a family secret that was one that 84 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:21,479 Speaker 1: I am my ex husband held for twenty five years, UM, 85 00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:26,719 Speaker 1: and that secret is that our son was conceived by 86 00:05:26,839 --> 00:05:34,240 Speaker 1: our official infiminationnorum examination UM. Because of this show, not indirectly, 87 00:05:34,279 --> 00:05:38,760 Speaker 1: but at the very least, I was encouraged by your podcast, Danny, 88 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:42,960 Speaker 1: to let my son know in fact, I just told 89 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:47,320 Speaker 1: him yesterday. It's very fresh, UM that that, in fact 90 00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:52,200 Speaker 1: his dad is not his biological father, and UM told 91 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:56,040 Speaker 1: him the whole story of the journey that we took 92 00:05:57,080 --> 00:06:00,560 Speaker 1: which got us to the point of of him ultimately, 93 00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:04,120 Speaker 1: So UM, it's very fresh news for him, but he 94 00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:09,200 Speaker 1: has been incredibly gracious and accepting of the news at 95 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:12,120 Speaker 1: this point. I'm sure there are layers, UM that are 96 00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:15,800 Speaker 1: going to reveal themselves as the years go by. But 97 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:20,600 Speaker 1: I can't think you enough in the whole community that's 98 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:24,440 Speaker 1: come together around family secrets in this wonderful podcast, for 99 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:30,560 Speaker 1: encouraging me and knowing that my fears about his reaction 100 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:35,320 Speaker 1: were much less important ultimately than him knowing the truth 101 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:38,800 Speaker 1: of who he really is. And that's a conclusion I 102 00:06:38,839 --> 00:06:43,160 Speaker 1: came to gradually and very much was encouraged to make 103 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:47,520 Speaker 1: because of this podcast. So thanks again, and I have 104 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:51,560 Speaker 1: a huge weight off my shoulders after finally sharing this 105 00:06:51,600 --> 00:07:07,520 Speaker 1: one secret. Yeah, if you'd like to share your story, 106 00:07:07,720 --> 00:07:12,600 Speaker 1: call one eight eight eight Secret zero and record your story. 107 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:14,920 Speaker 1: We won't be able to run all the stories, but 108 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:16,720 Speaker 1: we do want to shine a light on as many 109 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:19,920 Speaker 1: as we can. The number again is one eight eight 110 00:07:20,720 --> 00:07:37,360 Speaker 1: secret and then the numeral zero. For more podcasts for 111 00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:40,560 Speaker 1: my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple podcast, 112 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:42,760 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.