Growing Up Archives - Page 11 of 40 - StoryCorps

‘Everything Just Came Crashing Down’: A Mother and Daughter Grapple With Homelessness

Ten years ago, Sandy Baker left her troubled marriage. Using what money she could scrape together, Sandy checked into a motel with her teenage daughter, Ashley. They were homeless for the next two and a half years.

Recently, they came to a StoryCorps booth in Dallas to talk about that time. 

Ashley and Sandy now have their own apartment. This year, Ashley graduated college, and Sandy now works to provide housing for others in need.

Top photo: Ashley Baker and Sandy Baker at their StoryCorps interview in Dallas, TX on October 19, 2019. By Eleanor Vasilli for StoryCorps.

This interview was recorded through a community partnership with Family Promise of Collin County

Originally aired November 29, 2019 , on NPR’s Morning Edition.

After Giving Up Baby, Reunion Sparks Second Chance at Motherhood

Janie Bush was just 19 years old in 1968 when she discovered she was expecting a child. 

After careful consideration, she decided to give her daughter up for adoption. 

In 2014, Janie came to StoryCorps in Dallas, Texas with her daughter, Tracey Bush, to talk about what happened next.

Top photo: Janie and Tracey Bush at their StoryCorps interview in Dallas, TX on December 8, 2014. By Callie Thuma for StoryCorps.
Bottom photo: The first photo taken of Janie and Tracey Bush, when they reconnected on Janie’s porch when Tracey was 12 years old. Courtesy of Janie Bush.

Originally aired on November 8, 2019, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Brothers Pass On Their Father’s Lessons From The Farm

Arguster and Lebronze Davis grew up on their family’s farm in Wetumpka, Alabama. As two of 17 siblings, they had little time for anything outside of school and work.

The brothers came to StoryCorps to talk about their childhood and remember their dad, Ben Davis.

Top photo: Lebronze and Arguster Davis at their StoryCorps interview in Birmingham on October 3, 2019. By Emilyn Sosa for StoryCorps.
Middle photo: The Davis family during a reunion in Wetumpka, AL, in 1969. Lebronze Davis is not pictured, because he was serving in Vietnam. Photo courtesy of Arguster Davis.
Bottom photo: Hattie and Ben Davis — mother and father to the Davis children — in Wetumpka, AL. Approximately 1951. Photo courtesy of Arguster Davis.

Originally aired November 1, 2019 on NPR’s Morning Edition. 

“We Missed Knowing Each Other:” 50 Years After Desegregation, Two Classmates Remember

On October 29, 1969, the Supreme Court ordered schools across the country to desegregate, in the little-known but milestone case Alexander v. Holmes. It was 15 years after schools had resisted Brown v. Board of Education, and most black students in the South still attended all-black schools. 

Eli Brown and Natalie Guice Adams met in third grade, when their school in Winnsboro, Louisiana first integrated. Brown is black, and Adams is white. As two of the top students, their lives were academically intertwined through elementary and high school, yet deeply separate.

Adams and Brown would go on to become co-valedictorians of the Winnsboro High School class of 1980. Today, Brown is an OBGYN in Birmingham, Alabama, and Adams is a professor at the University of Alabama. At StoryCorps, they sat down to remember life after integration for the first time.

Top photo: Natalie Guice Adams and Eli Brown at their at their StoryCorps interview in Birmingham, AL on October 2, 2019. By Emilyn Sosa for StoryCorps.
Middle photo: Natalie Guice Adams and Eli Brown pose as two of Winnsboro High School’s “Most Likely To Succeed” students. Black and white recipients of the distinction were photographed separately. Photo from the Winnsboro High School 1980 yearbook.

Originally aired October 25, 2019 on NPR’s Morning Edition. 

He Traded Single Life To Be Foster ‘Pop’ To More Than 50 Kids

Guy Bryant grew up surrounded by women who dedicated themselves to caring for children in their Brooklyn community. He then spent years working with foster teens as they made the transition to living on their own. 

But after three decades as an administrator in the child welfare system, he felt that he wasn’t doing enough. So one day, he brought his work home with him, and twelve years later, he’s fostered over 50 young people in his New York City apartment. 

Guy came to StoryCorps with one of these kids, Romario Vassell, to talk about the early days.

Originally aired October 18, 2019, on NPR’s Morning Edition

Photo by Jey Born for StoryCorps.

From Internment to Disney, a Japanese American Artist Draws Strength Through His Work

Willie Ito was a wide-eyed little boy when he first saw Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in technicolor at his neighborhood movie theater in San Francisco.

That’s the moment he realized he wanted to be an animator.

But Willie’s dreams were interrupted in 1942, when his family was sent to a Japanese American internment camp in Topaz, Utah. He was eight years old at the time.

At 85, Willie came to StoryCorps with his son, Vince, to remember.

Top photo: Willie Ito at his home studio in Los Angeles, CA in the late ‘70s. Courtesy of Willie Ito.
Middle photo: Willie Ito holding a toy Dopey bank. His father bought it for him at a five and dime store when he was a child, before his family was interned in Topaz, UT from 1942 to 1945. Photo by Rochelle Hoi-Yiu Kwan for StoryCorps.
Bottom photo: Vince Ito and Willie Ito at their StoryCorps interview in Los Angeles, CA in September 2019. Photo by Rochelle Hoi-Yiu Kwan for StoryCorps.

Originally aired October 4th, 2019, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Waving Goodbye: Remembering a Mom Who Was “Strong In Everything”

A lesser-known part of StoryCorps’ work happens in StoryCorps Legacy, which gives people with life-threatening illnesses the chance to record their story, and their loved ones a chance to remember. Over the past nine years, we’ve recorded over 2,000 interviews through the program. 

In this recording, we hear from Maria Rivas, who remembers her mom, Julia Medina. Julia was a single mom who raised ten children while working as a cleaning woman in Fresno, California. 

For the last six years of Julia’s life, Maria took care of her mother as her health deteriorated.

She came to StoryCorps to share her mom’s story with Caroline Dezan, a social worker at Hinds Hospice. 

Top photo: Caroline Dezan and Maria Rivas at their StoryCorps interview in Fresno, CA on April 4, 2014. Courtesy Caroline Dezan. 
Middle photo: Maria Rivas poses with her mom, Julia Medina, at a Christmas in the years before her mom got sick. Courtesy Maria Rivas. 
Bottom photo: Maria Rivas poses with a picture of herself and her mother, as well as the picture of her mother waving as she drives away. Caroline Dezan for StoryCorps.

This interview was recorded in partnership with Hinds Hospice as part of StoryCorps Legacy, which provides people of all ages with serious illness and their families the opportunity to record, preserve, and share their stories by partnering with organizations across the country, including hospitals and clinics, pediatric centers, hospice and palliative care departments, and disease-specific organizations. 

Originally aired September 20, 2019, on NPR’s Morning Edition. 

Swept Away: Falling for the Man with 600 Vacuums

We love a good love story here at StoryCorps. But this one? It sucks … just not in the way you might think. 

Tom Gasko has been a vacuum repairman for over 35 years. He also collects vacuums hundreds and hundreds of them and proudly displays them in his very own vacuum cleaner museum in a Rolla, Missouri strip mall. 

He came to StoryCorps to share his love for the machines with his husband, Donnie Pedrola. 

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Top photo: Donnie Pedrola and Tom Gasko at their StoryCorps interview in Rolla, MI on June 26, 2019. By Dupe Oyebolu for StoryCorps.
Bottom photo: In 2001, Tom got a tattoo of the logo of his favorite vacuum cleaner, The Airway from 1935. This is the same machine he hopes to spend eternity in. Courtesy Tom Gasko.

Originally aired September 6, 2019 on NPR’s Morning Edition. 

Remembering One Tough Veteran: Lieutenant Susan Ahn Cuddy

Susan Ahn Cuddy was one seriously tough woman, who wore many hats — and broke many barriers — throughout her life.

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She was the first Asian American woman in the Navy and the first woman gunnery officer teaching air combat tactics. During World War II, Lieutenant Cuddy trained Navy pilots in dogfighting maneuvers and firing .50-caliber machine guns.

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But her children, Flip and Christine Cuddy, didn’t know about her accomplishments until later in life. In 2018, they came to StoryCorps to remember her.

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Top photo: Susan Ahn Cuddy (far right) at the US Naval Air Station in Florida in 1943. Courtesy of Flip Cuddy.
Middle photo: Susan Ahn Cuddy in uniform. Courtesy of Flip Cuddy.
Middle photo: Susan Ahn Cuddy training a sailor in how to fire a .50-caliber machine gun. Courtesy of Flip Cuddy.
Bottom photo: Christine Cuddy and Flip Cuddy at StoryCorps in Northridge, CA. By Naomi Blech for StoryCorps.

Originally aired August 17, 2019 on NPR’s Weekend Edition.

“I Was Going To Have Family Again:” How One Woman’s Path to Being Herself Led Her Home

Elizabeth Coffey-Williams was in her early 20s when she told her family that she was transgender. But back then, in the early 1970s, there were very few options for people who wanted to medically transition. 

She is now 71 years old. She sat down for a StoryCorps interview with her niece, Jennifer Coffey, to reflect on that journey. 

Elizabeth now lives in a LGBTQ-friendly housing complex for seniors in downtown Philadelphia. Hear more from Elizabeth and her neighbors on the StoryCorps podcast.

Top Photo: Elizabeth Coffey-Williams and Jennifer Coffey at their StoryCorps interview in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on April 8, 2019. By Jud Esty-Kendall for StoryCorps.

Originally aired August 16, 2019, on NPR’s Morning Edition.