244: Justin found his mom

What Was That Like - True Stories. Real People.

Scott Johnson & Glassbox Media

True Crime, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.7 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 30 January 2026

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Sometimes, there comes a moment in your life when everything changes. You might have a little warning ahead of time, or it might come as a complete surprise. It might be a surprise that makes your whole life better, or it could be news that’s devastating. We never know – that’s just how life works. Justin had a moment like that. He was adopted the day after he was born, so he never knew his birth mother. He had a wonderful childhood, and he loves his family, but he always wondered about the woman who actually gave birth to him. Then, that moment came – they found each other. Justin told this story on the podcast more than 7 years ago. And one of the things that I love about this episode is a surprise I had for him during our conversation. You’ll hear it right after the second ad break. I hope you love this story as much as I do. Full show notes and pictures for this episode are here: https://WhatWasThatLike.com/244 Graphics for this episode by Bob Bretz. Transcription was done by James Lai. Want to discuss this episode and other things with thousands of other WWTL listeners? Join our podcast Facebook group at WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook (many of the podcast guests are there as well) Get every episode ad-free, AND get all the Raw Audio exclusive episodes to binge, by joining the other listeners at What Was That Like PLUS. Try What Was That Like PLUS free: iPhone: at the top of the What Was That Like podcast feed, click on “Try free” Android: on your phone, go to WhatWasThatLike.com/PLUS and click to try it free on any app Sponsor deals: Visit AuraFrames.com and use promo code WHATWAS at checkout to get $45 off. If you’re 21 or older, get 25% OFF your first order + free shipping @IndaCloud with code [WHATWAS] at https://inda.shop/[WHATWAS]! #indacloudpod Go to ThriveMarket.com/WHATWAS to get 30% off your first order, plus a FREE $60 gift just for signing up. Go to Quince.com/whatwas for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns! Get 15% off OneSkin with the code [WHATWAS] at https://www.oneskin.co/ #oneskinpod Try Mint Mobile for 3 months, for just 15 bucks a month - MintMobile.com/WHAT Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Sometimes there comes a moment in your life when everything changes.
0:14.0	You might have a little warning ahead of time, or it might come as a complete surprise.
0:24.0	It might be a surprise that makes your whole life better.
0:27.6	Or it could be news that's devastating.
0:30.9	We never know. That's just how life works.
0:34.6	Justin had a moment like that.
0:39.1	He was adopted the day after he was born,
0:41.5	so he never knew his birth mother.
0:45.3	He had a wonderful childhood, and he loves his family,
0:50.2	but he always wondered about the woman who actually gave birth to him.
0:54.1	Then that moment came. They found each other. Justin told this story on the podcast more than
1:00.7	seven years ago, and one of the things I love about this episode is a surprise I had for him
1:07.3	during our conversation. You'll hear it right after the second ad break.
1:13.1	I hope you love this story as much as I do.
1:21.3	Real people in unreal situations.
1:26.2	The eerie silence when I walked in, and he's just staring at me.
1:31.5	I was like, hello, like, are you okay?
1:34.0	And then I had to tell him, it was me.
1:37.6	There was just blood everywhere.
1:40.5	They're shouting, they're screaming, they're being hit by bullets, they're hitting the ground.
1:44.7	And in that moment, I literally thought, this is how I die.
1:47.9	Everything changed then.
	...

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