Eddie Lanier Jr. (above right) met David Wright (above left) while panhandling on a highway exit ramp. Eddie was homeless and fighting to stay sober. The two men became friends, and in 2006 David interviewed Eddie at a StoryCorps booth in Durham, North Carolina.

Click here to listen to their first interview.

In 2014, StoryCorps returned to Durham. Eddie and David, who then lived together, came back for a second interview. At the time, Eddie was suffering from a very advanced stage of emphysema and didn’t have long to live. At StoryCorps, he spoke about the end of his life.

Eddie passed away five months after his second StoryCorps interview.

Click here to watch “The Road Home,” the StoryCorps animation of Eddie and David’s story.

Originally aired May 9, 2014, on NPR’s Morning Edition.