Nearest And Dearest Podcast - Bridging Family Dynamics

👋 Send a text 💬 or voicemail 🗣 When you hear those three words, you realize a couple of things. Either YOU have a reason to change YOUR own plans, or someone else changed THEIR plans and it somehow affects YOU . It can be as simple as, the restaurant you planned on going to for dinner, suddenly closed due to a staff shortage, to life changing when your marriage ended and you find yourself trying...

👋 Send a text 💬 or voicemail 🗣 Goals are part of your life. From the moment you took that first step as a baby when you were learning how to walk, you had already achieved a milestone goal! As humans, we achieve goals on a regular basis and don't even think twice about them. Accomplishing long term goals, are the hardest ones to see through. YOU have to make it a priority to work on that go...

👋 Send a text 💬 or voicemail 🗣 When life seems hectic and you are feeling overwhelmed, finding your zen, will help you find your balance. Learning how to make time to focus on your breathing and creating positive , calming moments in your mind, will be the first steps to finding YOUR own zen! My granddaughter Eloise is visiting with me from Connecticut. My wedding is in two more days! We are ble...

👋 Send a text 💬 or voicemail 🗣 I want to hear about that one thing YOU did that changed your life! It can be as challenging as facing your biggest fear like driving cross country for the first time ever even though you have anxiety about driving long distance. How about how you survived on a low-income paycheck while being a single-parent without any child support, but was able to have food on t...

👋 Send a text 💬 or voicemail 🗣 My wedding is coming up in exactly 28 days! Our summer together has been a mixture of finalizing the wedding details, finishing projects around our home and balancing all of that with quality time for our friends and family, and making our downtime important with just the two of us. We have been together over 10 years. Our relationship has grown every year. We are...

👋 Send a text 💬 or voicemail 🗣 Good Mourning - Moving Through Everyday Losses With Wisdom From The Other Side, is authored by Theresa Caputo, New York Times Bestselling Author. She is a "Spiritual Medium", known for her TLC reality television series, Long Island Medium. I love her show! I am a believer! I feel she has a true gift. If you have never seen her show, you need to stream it!...

👋 Send a text 💬 or voicemail 🗣 When you try to distribute the things in your life, like school, work, family and community, you are seeking a balance between all of these important things, that are in the long term, not in every instance of life. You want emotional well-being and strive for better fitness and health. You need to say no to something else that interferes with you doing something Y...

👋 Send a text 💬 or voicemail 🗣 It doesn't matter what obstacle, decision, or life goal you are facing. You have choices. It really boils down to just two choices. You either confront the circumstance or you  don't. Confronting means you are challenging, even opposing whatever person, or difficult situation that arises.  You have the power to make that very personal decision for yoursel...

👋 Send a text 💬 or voicemail 🗣 My youngest sister Jo-Jo just passed away on May 17, 2022. She was only 53 years old. I never thought in a million years that our family would come face to face with this reality. We all are getting older. Life does not stand still or slow down. I thought I would have more time with her... Her health was starting to decline. She was in and out of the hospital a few...

👋 Send a text 💬 or voicemail 🗣 Let's get right to it! I want to make this podcast the BEST podcast for you! I want to know what you like and dislike about Nearest And Dearest Podcast! The only way I can improve my show, is by asking exactly how you feel! You can help me out by answering just a few questions for me. The way you can submit your answers will be by sending me an email @ 📧 juli...

👋 Send a text 💬 or voicemail 🗣 We have made some progress with our society handling mental health shaming. But we still have a long way to go. In this episode, I will continue to discuss how mental health conditions affect not only adults, but children as well. We all have seen the heartbreaking tragedies that have resulted in school shootings across our country. I felt it more personally when S...

👋 Send a text 💬 or voicemail 🗣 We have made some progress with our society handling mental health shaming. But, we still have a long way to go. I think there still is a misconception about what mental health means. The World Health Organization definition is; Mental Health is "a state of well being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses...

👋 Send a text 💬 or voicemail 🗣 I am definitely old enough to remember vinyl albums, 8 track tapes, and cassettes. Whenever I was feeling happy, sad, or even mad, I would turn to listening to music. I still smile thinking about that sound of the needle hitting the vinyl album and anticipating the song that was about to be played.  Music unifies all races across the world. It doesn't matter t...

👋 Send a text 💬 or voicemail 🗣 What does leap of faith mean? It means taking action for yourself and not having evidence that proves you will be successful in the end result of your own action. Pretty straightforward. I know when you hear the word faith, you probably think about religion. It also means having complete trust or confidence in someone or something. That someone, can also mean havin...

👋 Send a text 💬 or voicemail 🗣 Remember when your parents or even your school teachers would tell you - if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all?  Where is the line that stops people from using freedom of speech to feel they have the right to say whatever they want? If those words are used, whether they are spoken aloud or put on paper, can hurt another person...

👋 Send a text 💬 or voicemail 🗣 My first experience with making hard, emotional decisions about letting go of material possessions, was back in 2006. I was separated from my now ex-husband and we put our house on the market, in hopes to sell it. I knew I couldn't keep all my stuff. It was over 20 years of material things that had accumulated during our marriage.  I made the decision to only...

👋 Send a text 💬 or voicemail 🗣 This is a very personal and very tough subject to talk about. The older I get, the more open to forgiveness I choose to embrace. It's always a conscious choice.  I came across a quote once, from an article in a magazine, "When it comes to forgiveness, all of us are beginners. No one owns a secret formula. As long as you are trying to forgive, you are forg...

👋 Send a text 💬 or voicemail 🗣 You know that making yourself a top priority should be right at the top of your to do list. But let's not kid ourselves. If you are a mother, father, caregiver or anyone who is responsible for others well being, your self needs and wants are probably at the bottom of your to do list. This life lesson is one that you need to learn pronto! It's not selfish...

👋 Send a text 💬 or voicemail 🗣 I am a believer in meant to be moments. You have heard me say that before. The best meant to be moments are the ones that lift your spirit higher than you ever thought possible. Finding Joe & Sharri, is one of my greatest meant to be moments. When life throws you a curve ball and you actually hit a home run, you KNOW it is a meant to be moment! It's a catc...

👋 Send a text 💬 or voicemail 🗣 I believe in second chances in life. It's an opportunity to grow beyond your past failures. It's about positively adjusting your attitude towards future possibilities. I recently read a passage that said, "Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending."  The quote is from an author, Maria Robinson...

👋 Send a text 💬 or voicemail 🗣 I was going to be an empty nester. I was at a crossroads. Ashley was encouraging me to come back to Connecticut. It was over six years since I left. I knew it would be a challenge going back towards my past. I would have to confront my emotions and see if I could start over with a fresh beginning again. Below are links to check out for more information related to t...

👋 Send a text 💬 or voicemail 🗣 My son was 16 and understood why I felt we needed to move to NY and live near my family. It was important to begin to heal from the heartache we both felt. In this respect, Sean and I were blending in with my family; which included my mom, my two younger sisters, and two of my older brothers, along with their individual families, who all lived in Northern NY. I had...

👋 Send a text 💬 or voicemail 🗣 If you haven't experienced divorce or know a loved one or friend who has, consider yourself the minority. I don't have to Google to find out the statistics about how many families have survived divorce to know there are a lot of us. The main truth I want to share with you is this: YOU will survive. Your children will survive. It's not easy. There are...

👋 Send a text 💬 or voicemail 🗣 Alcoholism's definition, according to Merriam-Webster is: continued excessive or compulsive use of alcoholic drinks; a chronic, a progressive, potentially fatal disorder marked by excessive and usually compulsive drinking of alcohol leading to psychological and physical dependence or addiction. Also, the American Medical Association states "Alcoholism is...

👋 Send a text 💬 or voicemail 🗣 I bought a plane ticket bound for NY. I live in Georgia. It was the beginning of December. My mom's driving skills were not safe for her and possibly, other drivers on the road. Along with my siblings, we had noticed mom's driving was becoming a safety concern.  I was so worried that I was going to get a phone call from one of my siblings, saying mom was...