How to Tell Someone

You can find the Question Wheel at howtotellsomeone.com/resources Give it a spin and send your written answer to howtotellsomeone@gmail.com or use the contact form (linked in the website footer) CREDITS: Created, produced, written, and edited by: Tonya Pieske All music composed and performed by: Hexteria Main theme: “The Star” by Hexteria Discover more music: www.hexteriamusic.com or any major str...

SHARE YOUR STORY: You can find the Question Wheel at howtotellsomeone.com/resources Give it a spin and send your written answer to howtotellsomeone@gmail.com CREDITS: Created, produced, written, and edited by: Tonya Pieske All music composed and performed by: Hexteria Main theme: “The Star” by Hexteria Discover more music: www.hexteriamusic.com or any major streaming platform CONNECT WITH US: How...

“I just expected that because I knew what was wrong with my childhood, that I would be able to solve what was wrong with their childhoods. But I couldn’t. Everything I was trying to give my kids was aspirational…I didn’t understand it…this would have worked for me, why isn’t it working for you?” “It became so much less about needing to remember everything that my mother had done to hurt me, and it...

"Talking it out with anybody did not help, and to some degree it can’t. I’m the only one who can decide what this will mean for me or what the next best step is. Even my therapist was like, you're just going to have to decide what is most important to you.” “People are really terrified of this and they will go through their whole lives being miserable in so many just to say that they are not alone...

“It was the very first time I remember my adoptive mother looking at me with pity and sadness. And she cried. And I remember being surprised that she could have those feelings about me. She hugged me and she asked me why I never told her…of course I didn’t tell you, you are the scariest person in the world to me. It was so mind boggling to me that she would be wondering why I wouldn’t share that w...

"Having to set boundaries with, and have difficult discussions with your one remaining parent is really hard…She’s my mom, and she’s my only mom, and what happens if I’m suddenly at odds with her?” “What are my mom’s golden years going to look like? Are they going to be golden at all if she’s stuck with this guy?” Key topics include toxic relationships, parent-child dynamics, parental loss, and se...

“There are ways you can mess up without even meaning to, and you don’t figure that out until it happens. And there’s only so much you can do to prepare and only so much you can do to educate yourself. And it’s also a very emotional thing. I think it was important to tell a story rather than to use terminology.” Key topics include queer relationships, supporting and advocating through gender transi...

“The way she said it made it feel like I was the last one to understand because I just didn’t know what this word meant. I didn’t understand he was dying…It was so weird to feel like you missed something, and that thing is that you’re going to lose the person that means everything to you….It was like the world was ripped out from under me and I’ve been falling ever since.” Key topics include losin...

“It was the first time I’d ever known anyone that had died, and it was my dad. When you’re seven, you don’t even have the vocabulary or the reference points to start navigating that mentally. So, it’s just pure shock.” “One of the things I immediately started reflecting on was how could this have been avoided?…And this is really when the guilt came on…So now on top of it all, it’s my fault.” Key t...

Welcome to How to Tell Someone, a soft spot in this hard world for true, vulnerable stories about communicating the big stuff. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tonyapieske.substack.com