Part 2: She Found Her Son After 50 Years and Then Lost Him Again

☀️ Hidden Chapters Summer Replay Series | Genevieve and her Mom's story

Send me a message via text or voicemail! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2463085/fan_mail/new] ☀️ As part of the Hidden Chapters Summer Replay Series, we’re revisiting conversations that shaped the heart of this podcast, stories that continue to reflect the themes introduced in the Season 3 bridge trailer. ☀️ Original Shownote: This first interview episode is deeply personal. It’s not just the beginning of the podcast, it’s a celebration of Mother’s Day, my 45th birthday, and the woman whose quiet strength shaped my life, my mom. For the first time ever, she shares her side of the story. Her journey into motherhood, the unexpected challenges she faced, and the life changing choices she made with courage and love. We talk about the moment she found out she was pregnant with me, the weight of that reality, and the resilience it took to raise me through it all. She opens up about single motherhood, family support, military life, pursuing education as a parent, and the hope that comes with finding love later on. This episode is a tribute to the unseen courage so many women carry, and a reminder that the stories we often keep hidden are the ones that shape us the most. I’m incredibly honored she chose to tell her story here, with me. Thank you for being here for this meaningful beginning. Special Dedication: 🎵 The song that my mom kept for us: “You and me against the world” By Helen Reddy  https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=F34c1Re8k5s&si=_Fz3V7Mm-SiGFdaY [https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=F34c1Re8k5s&si=_Fz3V7Mm-SiGFdaY] 📖 Theme: Mother daughter connection and origin story. My why.  🔗 Affiliates: Podmatch.com  [https://www.joinpodmatch.com/genevievekruger] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2463085/support] 🌐  Visit my website: https://hiddenchapterspodcast.com/  [https://hiddenchapterspodcast.com/]and stay connected!  🎙️  Want to be a guest on Hidden Chapters: Real Stories that Bring Light to the Hidden Parts of Life? Send me a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/genevievekruger [https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/genevievekruger]  🎵 Background Music: "In Time" by Folk_acoustic from Pixabay

START HERE | Hidden Chapters Podcast Season 3 Bridge Trailer

Send me a message via text or voicemail! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2463085/fan_mail/new] In this bridge trailer, I reflects on the heart of the podcast and the stories shared over three seasons, from military spouses and grieving parents to authors, veterans, and people rebuilding their lives after unexpected change. Hidden Chapters is a space for honest conversations about grief, identity shifts, healing, motherhood, marriage, faith questions, resilience, and starting over. It is a reminder that even the parts of life we tend to hide can hold deep connection and meaning.💛 If you are new here, this is a perfect place to begin. You can start anywhere, each conversation stands on its own. Hidden Chapters exists to honor the stories we don’t always see, and to remind you that you are not alone in yours. Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2463085/support] 🌐  Visit my website: https://hiddenchapterspodcast.com/  [https://hiddenchapterspodcast.com/]and stay connected!  🎙️  Want to be a guest on Hidden Chapters: Real Stories that Bring Light to the Hidden Parts of Life? Send me a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/genevievekruger [https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/genevievekruger]  🎵 Background Music: "In Time" by Folk_acoustic from Pixabay

A Year of Lessons You Can Actually Use | Hidden Chapters Podcast Season 3 Finale

Send me a message via text or voicemail! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2463085/fan_mail/new] Hidden Chapters Season 3 Finale +  One Year Anniversary Reflection 🎉 In this Season 3 finale and one-year anniversary episode of Hidden Chapters, I find myself looking back at everything this first year has held. What started as a simple idea to create space for storytelling has grown into something far deeper than I ever expected. Through every conversation, every guest, and every hidden chapter shared, I’ve been changed just as much as the stories I’ve heard. This episode is a reflection on the lessons I didn’t know I was learning along the way, woven together with guest voices from Season 3 that bring those moments back to life in real time. As I reflect on this year, I share three core lessons that have shaped me as both a host and a human: *  Learning how to listen differently and see people more fully  *  Realizing I am not starting over, I am starting from experience  *  Understanding that my voice and my story already hold purpose  Throughout this episode, you’ll also hear moments from past guest conversations that helped shape these lessons, including stories of resilience, loss, faith, identity, healing, and transformation. From Adrian’s leadership lesson born from hardship, to Dan’s perspective on what it means to keep going, to Zulma’s reminder that it is never too late to begin again, and Mick and Laura’s reflections on faith, courage, and purpose, each voice adds depth to what this year has meant. This episode is both a reflection and a pause. Because after this season, Hidden Chapters will be taking a short summer break with my family. This space is not ending, it is simply resting and making room for what is next. Behind the scenes, I will be stepping into a new season of growth, exploring new conversations, new guest spaces, and even opportunities beyond the mic. Season 4 is already forming, and when it returns, it will carry everything this first year has taught me forward. Until then, thank you for being part of this journey. For listening. For sharing space with these stories. And for reminding me that stories matter more than we often realize. Audio clips from Season 3 guests:  * Arian Cruz                  Episode 5  : https://www.buzzsprout.com/2463085/episodes/18699538 [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2463085/episodes/18699538] * Dan MacQueen      Episode 12 https://www.buzzsprout.com/2463085/episodes/18952215 [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2463085/episodes/18952215] *Zulma Williams      Episode 4 :https://www.buzzsprout.com/2463085/episodes/18720648 [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2463085/episodes/18720648] *Mick Wienholt       Episode 6 :https://www.buzzsprout.com/2463085/episodes/18856637 [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2463085/episodes/18856637] * Laura Bratton       Episode 7 :https://www.buzzsprout.com/2463085/episodes/18855244 [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2463085/episodes/18855244] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2463085/support] 🌐  Visit my website: https://hiddenchapterspodcast.com/  [https://hiddenchapterspodcast.com/]and stay connected!  🎙️  Want to be a guest on Hidden Chapters: Real Stories that Bring Light to the Hidden Parts of Life? Send me a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/genevievekruger [https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/genevievekruger]  🎵 Background Music: "In Time" by Folk_acoustic from Pixabay

Part 2: She Found Her Son After 50 Years and Then Lost Him Again

Send me a message via text or voicemail! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2463085/fan_mail/new] If you haven’t listened to Part 1 yet, start there, it’s the foundation for everything in this episode. 🎙️  Episode Summary PART 2 In Part 1, Laura Engel shared what happened in 1967: the pregnancy, the unwed mothers’ home in New Orleans, the forced goodbye, and the fifty years of silence that followed.  In Part 2, everything changes.  In 2016, Laura submitted her DNA to Ancestry.com. A few months later, her firstborn son,  the one she’d been told to forget, actually found her. What followed was five years of reunion: of learning who he had become, of introducing him to family, of filling in the gaps on both sides. And then, in 2021, she lost him again in a way she never saw coming.  She almost didn’t publish the book. In this episode, Laura talks about what changed her mind, what her story has meant to the thousands of adoptees and birth mothers who found themselves in its pages, and why she’s still speaking for all the women who can’t yet. 🎧  What We Talk About in This Episode * The DNA test that changed everything and the moment Laura realized her son had found her * What the reunion with Richard was like after 49 years apart * The grief of losing Richard in 2021 and what she calls “the most complicated grief I’ve ever lived through” * Why she almost pulled the book from publication after he died and what made her say yes 📖  Laura's Hidden Chapter Moment After Richard died, Laura’s husband Gene said something to her that she couldn’t shake. She told him she wished Richard had never found her. And he said: "don’t ever say that again. Because look what you learned. Look what you got. You loved him. He loved you. And we have three grandchildren we never would have known existed." That’s the hidden chapter in all of this. Not just the shame, not just the grief, but the love that was there the whole time, even in the parts that hurt the most.   🔗 Resources Mentioned: * Laura’s memoir: You’ll Forget This Ever Happened by Laura L. Engel: available on Amazon and through She Writes Press * Laura’s website and the Family Secrets podcast episode where she first shared her story: lauralengel.com * Adoption Knowledge Affiliates: adoptionknowledge.org — education and support across the adoption triad * CUB – Concerned United Birthparents: cubirthparents.org — support for birth parents * Adoptee Rights Law Center: adopteerightslaw.com — check your state’s current law on original birth certificate access * ISRR – International Soundex Reunion Registry: isrr.org — mutual consent reunion registry * DNA Detectives on Facebook — volunteer search angels to help adoptees and birth parents connect * Alliance of Hope for Suicide Loss Survivors: allianceofhope.org * 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988 Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2463085/support] 🌐  Visit my website: https://hiddenchapterspodcast.com/  [https://hiddenchapterspodcast.com/]and stay connected!  🎙️  Want to be a guest on Hidden Chapters: Real Stories that Bring Light to the Hidden Parts of Life? Send me a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/genevievekruger [https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/genevievekruger]  🎵 Background Music: "In Time" by Folk_acoustic from Pixabay

Part 1: She Was Told to Give Up Her Baby and Never Speak of It Again

Send me a message via text or voicemail! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2463085/fan_mail/new] 🎙️  Episode Summary PART 1:  Laura Engel was seventeen when she got pregnant, unmarried, in Mississippi in 1967.  Her family sent her to an unwed mothers' home in New Orleans for five months.  She signed papers she didn't want to sign. She then came back home to her parents house and was expected to just keep going on with her life.    She did that...for fifty years. 🎧  In Part 1 of our conversation,  Laura shares what her experience of being pregnant, the months living at the home, and what the next fifty years looked like carrying a child she never forgot.  We end on a cliffhanger: the son she had to give away, Jamie, now named Richard, finally found her!   📖 Laura's Hidden Chapter Moment:  The pregnancy, the unwed mother home, and giving up her baby, are all parts people can only imagine.  The hidden chapter is what came after.  Laura walked back into her life and nobody every spoke of it again. Not because she'd healed, but because that was how it was supposed to be.  🔗 Resources & Links Include these in your episode show notes so listeners who connect with Laura’s story can find support and community: Laura’s Links • Website: lauralengel.com (includes a Starter Guide for finding a lost loved one) • Book: You’ll Forget This Ever Happened available on Amazon and through She Writes Press • First podcast appearance: Dani Shapiro’s Family Secrets — available on Laura’s website Adoption & Birth Parent Resources • CUB (Concerned United Birthparents): cubirthparents.org — support for birth parents • Adoption Knowledge Affiliates: adoptionknowledge.org — education and advocacy across the adoption triad • ISRR (International Soundex Reunion Registry): isrr.org — mutual consent reunion registry • DNA Detectives (Facebook group) — volunteer search angels to help adoptees and birth parents connect • Adoptee Rights Law Center: adopteerightslaw.com — advocacy for open original birth certificates For Adoptees Seeking Records • Many states are gradually opening access — check your state’s current law at adopteerightslaw.com/map • Ancestry.com and 23andMe DNA testing remain powerful tools for connection Grief & Suicide Loss Resources • Alliance of Hope for Suicide Loss Survivors: allianceofhope.org • American Foundation for Suicide Prevention: afsp.org  |  Crisis line: 988 Podmatch.com [https://www.joinpodmatch.com/genevievekruger] Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2463085/support] 🌐  Visit my website: https://hiddenchapterspodcast.com/  [https://hiddenchapterspodcast.com/]and stay connected!  🎙️  Want to be a guest on Hidden Chapters: Real Stories that Bring Light to the Hidden Parts of Life? Send me a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/genevievekruger [https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/genevievekruger]  🎵 Background Music: "In Time" by Folk_acoustic from Pixabay