Last Day

Growing up, Lina Martinez treasured holidays spent with her family. She remembers the food, the ornaments, the dancing, and — above all – her dad, who made everything warmer and brighter. Year round, her dad Luis was her person, her best friend. But when Luis fell ill shortly before Christmas, Lina could already tell her holidays were going to look different from then on. Lina shares with Stephanie what it was like to receive and lose the most important kind of love in her life, and how she makes space for her grief, even during the most “wonderful” time of the year.  Follow Stephanie on Instagram at @wittelstephanie. Stay up to date with us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia.  Have a story you want to share? Head to bit.ly/lastdaystories to fill out our confidential Google form.  Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our show and get bonus content. Subscribe today at bit.ly/lemonadapremium. And if you want to continue the conversation with other listeners, join the My Lemonada community at https://lemonadamedia.com/mylemonada/ For a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and every other Lemonada show, go to lemonadamedia.com/sponsors. To follow along with a transcript, go to www.lemonadamedia.com/show/lastday shortly after the air date.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Amy Schneider has always been smart, but she hasn’t always felt like it. It wasn’t until her 30s that it became clear just how many ways of thinking exist. With this new perspective, she saw her identity and abilities in a new light and, famously, went on to shatter records on the quiz show Jeopardy!. Amy and Stephanie talk about how the more you know, the more you realize you don’t know, the fateful timing of her success, and how she now realizes it couldn’t have happened any other way. Apple Books has teamed up with Lemonada Media for an audiobook club. The November pick is In the Form of a Question by Amy Schneider. For more details, visit http://apple.co/lemonadabookclub. Follow Stephanie on Instagram at @wittelstephanie. Stay up to date with us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia.  Have a story you want to share? Head to bit.ly/lastdaystories to fill out our confidential Google form.  Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our show and get bonus content. Subscribe today at bit.ly/lemonadapremium. And if you want to continue the conversation with other listeners, join the My Lemonada community at https://lemonadamedia.com/mylemonada/ For a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and every other Lemonada show, go to lemonadamedia.com/sponsors. To follow along with a transcript, go to www.lemonadamedia.com/show/lastday shortly after the air date.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jen Varner grew up swearing she’d never end up like her parents, whose struggles with addiction led to her neglect. But right before her eyes, Jen’s own relationship with alcohol began to escalate. She spent years drinking in secret, hiding her addiction from her friends and even the person she loved the most. Jen shares with Stephanie her journey of running from the shadow of her parents, until she could no longer deny who she had become.  Follow Stephanie on Instagram at @wittelstephanie. Stay up to date with us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia.  Have a story you want to share? Head to bit.ly/lastdaystories to fill out our confidential Google form.  Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our show and get bonus content. Subscribe today at bit.ly/lemonadapremium. And if you want to continue the conversation with other listeners, join the My Lemonada community at https://lemonadamedia.com/mylemonada/ For a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and every other Lemonada show, go to lemonadamedia.com/sponsors. To follow along with a transcript, go to www.lemonadamedia.com/show/lastday shortly after the air date.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Carrie and Joe were college sweethearts who made a picture-perfect family. They worked and saved to pay for their kids’ sports, vacations, and everything in between. Then, after over a decade of marriage, Carrie stumbled upon the secret that compromised everything they built. Carrie shares with Stephanie how her husband’s betrayal left her with absolutely nothing – not a roof over her head, or answers from her life partner about why he deceived her. Follow Stephanie on Instagram at @wittelstephanie. Stay up to date with us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia.  Have a story you want to share? Head to bit.ly/lastdaystories to fill out our confidential Google form.  Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our show and get bonus content. Subscribe today at bit.ly/lemonadapremium. And if you want to continue the conversation with other listeners, join the My Lemonada community at https://lemonadamedia.com/mylemonada/ For a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and every other Lemonada show, go to lemonadamedia.com/sponsors. To follow along with a transcript, go to www.lemonadamedia.com/show/lastday shortly after the air date.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Carmen Rita Wong always had a big family, but she never thought it was the kind to have big secrets. Yet by adulthood, multiple bombshells would drop and transform her entire understanding of her parents, her origins, and her identity. Carmen takes Stephanie on this wild ride of genealogy, earth-shattering discoveries, and what it ultimately means to her now, as a parent, to know just how much her own endured. Apple Books has teamed up with Lemonada Media for an audiobook club. The October pick is Thicker Than Water by Kerry Washington. For more details, visit http://apple.co/lemonadabooks Follow Stephanie on Instagram at @wittelstephanie. Stay up to date with us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia.  Are the holidays a particularly tough time for you? Have a story you want to share?  Head to bit.ly/lastdaystories to fill out our confidential Google form.  Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our show and get bonus content. Subscribe today at bit.ly/lemonadapremium. And if you want to continue the conversation with other listeners, join the My Lemonada community at https://lemonadamedia.com/mylemonada/ For a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and every other Lemonada show, go to lemonadamedia.com/sponsors. To follow along with a transcript, go to www.lemonadamedia.com/show/lastday shortly after the air date.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this special episode, Lemonada co-founder Stephanie Wittels Wachs sits down with the leaders of the Coalition to Advance Public Safety (CAPS), an organization working to intercept and prevent violence in communities across the U.S. The coalition’s work builds on years of knowledge of public health and the particular needs of different locales, as well as the lived experience of community members on the ground. With these tools, CAPS creates and maintains community violence intervention (CVI) ecosystems around the country. In this conversation, CAPS’ leaders share the progress that their work has already brought to fruition and how you can help support what comes next. Thank you to the Coalition to Advance Public Safety for making today’s conversation possible. To learn more about the CVI ecosystem, and the individual organizations at work in this coalition, visit www.cviecosystem.org.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For most of her life, Jen Curran liked to take it easy. She loved sketch comedy, riding in her red convertible, and dropping by JCPenney to check out the sales. But her easy-breezy lifestyle was shattered overnight for reasons she never saw coming: just months after giving birth, Jen found out she might die. Jen walks Stephanie through her winding medical journey, filled with secretive doctors and dangerously misguided medical advice. Now living years longer than she expected, Jen also shares how she’s learning to move past surviving and onto thriving. Follow Stephanie on Instagram at @wittelstephanie. Stay up to date with us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia.  Are the holidays a particularly tough time for you? Have a story you want to share? Head to bit.ly/lastdaystories to fill out our confidential Google form.  Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our show and get bonus content. Subscribe today at bit.ly/lemonadapremium. And if you want to continue the conversation with other listeners, join the My Lemonada community at https://lemonadamedia.com/mylemonada/ For a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and every other Lemonada show, go to lemonadamedia.com/sponsors. To follow along with a transcript, go to www.lemonadamedia.com/show/lastday shortly after the air date.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Leticia Ochoa Adams lost her son Anthony to suicide, it made her rethink everything — from her previously unshakeable faith to the very place she called home. With a Texas-sized heart and a heaping dose of dark humor, Leticia recounts her path from teen mom to grieving parent, and all the moments she shared with Anthony along the way. She opens up to Stephanie about how her views have changed in the wake of loss, including her relationship with God.  Follow Stephanie on Instagram at @wittelstephanie. Stay up to date with us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia.  Are the holidays a particularly tough time for you? Have a story you want to share?  Head to bit.ly/lastdaystories to fill out our confidential Google form.  Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our show and get bonus content. Subscribe today at bit.ly/lemonadapremium. And if you want to continue the conversation with other listeners, join the My Lemonada community at https://lemonadamedia.com/mylemonada/ For a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and every other Lemonada show, go to lemonadamedia.com/sponsors. To follow along with a transcript, go to www.lemonadamedia.com/show/lastday shortly after the air date.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Courtney embraces the mess. She records chaotic workout videos from home, where she’s currently raising three kids as a single mom. So why should her sobriety journey be any different? As Courtney has recently realized, her recovery from alcohol — which she began six years ago — will never really be over. Courtney talks with Stephanie about approaching recovery as something non-linear and lifelong, and how that might just be the most empowering part. Follow Stephanie on Instagram at @wittelstephanie. Stay up to date with us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia.  Have a story you want to share? Head to bit.ly/lastdaystories to fill out our confidential Google form.  Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our show and get bonus content. Subscribe today at bit.ly/lemonadapremium. And if you want to continue the conversation with other listeners, join the My Lemonada community at https://lemonadamedia.com/mylemonada/ For a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and every other Lemonada show, go to lemonadamedia.com/sponsors. To follow along with a transcript, go to www.lemonadamedia.com/show/lastday shortly after the air date.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Geena Rocero has yet to meet a stage she doesn’t like. As the reigning trans beauty queen in the Philippines, she was adored and envied with equal passion – all while being out and proud. But when she moved to America and became a model, she went back in the closet to protect her livelihood, at least until the secrecy began to do more harm than it was worth. Geena tells Stephanie how she was finally able to live without compromising what was most important to her, starting with the moment she reclaimed her identity, all while standing on one of the biggest and most pivotal stages in the world. Follow Stephanie on Instagram at @wittelstephanie. Stay up to date with us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia.  Have a story you want to share? Head to bit.ly/lastdaystories to fill out our confidential Google form.  Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our show and get bonus content. Subscribe today at bit.ly/lemonadapremium. And if you want to continue the conversation with other listeners, join the My Lemonada community at https://lemonadamedia.com/mylemonada/ For a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and every other Lemonada show, go to lemonadamedia.com/sponsors. To follow along with a transcript, go to www.lemonadamedia.com/show/lastday shortly after the air date.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.