A Special Project To Keep Dad’s Memory Alive
Since he was in high school, Al Plumley could be found under the hood of a car, fixing it himself.
In high school, Al Plumley treasured his blue Mustang. Courtesy of Ashley Cosme.
When he raised his three daughters in Northern Indiana, he spent a lot of time teaching them about his passion for fixing up old cars.
Al Plumley (center) with his wife and daughters in 2021. Courtesy of Ashley Cosme.
Al died in October of 2021. His middle daughter, Ashley Cosme, came to StoryCorps with her husband, Nicholas, to talk about how they are keeping his memory alive.
Top Photo: Ashley and Nicholas Cosme at their StoryCorps interview in Chicago, Illinois on July 27, 2022. Taken for StoryCorps.
This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Originally aired Friday, August 5, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
A Mother And Daughter Remember The Power Of Grandma’s Hands
Madzimoyo Owusu grew up on the West Side of Chicago in the 1970s. When she was a young girl, she spent many of her days with her grandmother, who lived in the same three-story apartment building.
Decades later, In 2010, Madzimoyo came to StoryCorps with her daughter, Johannah, to honor the memory of the woman who helped shape her life…
Madzimoyo and her grandmother Elsie’s hands together, 1995 in Birmingham Alabama, courtesy of the Owusu family.
Top Photo: Johannah and Madzimoyo at their StoryCorps Recording on July 10th, 2010, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Photo by Jorge Rios for StoryCorps.
This interview was recorded in partnership with the Three Rivers Institute of Afrikan Art & Culture.
Originally aired November 19th, 2021 on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Zoë Waters, Maddy Waters, and Nick Waters
Ten-year-old triplets Maddy, Zoë, and Nick Waters have spent their entire lives together, sharing everything from a birthday to a bedroom.
But despite being so close, they’d never sat down and asked each other some of their most pressing questions. So they came to a StoryCorps MobileBooth in Bloomington, Indiana, where they found out they still had a lot to learn.
Originally aired June 30, 2017, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Top photo: Maddy, Zoë, and Nick at their StoryCorps interview in Bloomington, Indiana.
Middle photo: Maddy, Zoë, and Nick on the day all three were able to come home from the hospital in 2007. Courtesy of the Waters Family.
Bottom photo: Maddy, Zoë, and Nick walk to school in Bloomington, Indiana on Zoë’s first day using her power chair in 2016. Courtesy of the Waters Family.
Mike Kilgore
Mike Kilgore remembers his grandmother, Sara Louisa Matilda Elizabeth Nowles, who played a large role in his upbringing and helped him stay out of trouble while teaching him about life.
Originally aired November 21, 2008, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Dorothy Mengering and Bryn Mooth
Dorothy Mengering died April 12, 2017 at the age of 95. Born in 1921, before there was electricity in her home outside of Linton, Indiana, Dorothy was best known as “Dave’s mom.” She was a regular on her son, David Letterman’s late night television talk shows and covered the 1994 and 1998 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, and Nagano, Japan.
In this 2007 StoryCorps interview, she tells her granddaughter, Bryn Mooth, about her television experiences.
You can read Dorothy’s obituary here.
Released April 13, 2017.