Bob Carberry and John P. Cullen
Stephen Bates was a Lieutenant with FDNY Engine Company 235 in Brooklyn. He had been with the Fire Department for 18 years when he was killed at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
At StoryCorps, Bob Carberry (left) and John Cullen (right), also lieutenants with the department, remember spending time with their friend on and off the job.
Originally aired September 7, 2007, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
May Herlands and Sheila Lepelstat
Sheila Lepelstat (left) and May Herlands (right) connected when they were 12 years old and first met at summer camp; their connection has never been broken. They have remained friends since and now in their 70s and living in different states, still talk on the phone daily.
Originally aired June 23, 2006, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Scott and Catherine Kohanek
Scott and Catherine Kohanek remember their first meeting at the elementary school where they both worked—he as a long-time custodian and she as a teacher. Catherine saw Scott as a “wayward boy,” but they fell in love and were eventually married at the place where they met.
Originally aired June 2, 2006, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Florence Aaron and Julia Pilowsky
Florence Aaron talks with her granddaughter Julia Pilowsky about when she met her husband in the early 1940s while on a weekend visit to Newburgh, New York.
He was was in uniform at a dance when the two began talking, and by the end of the evening, “We were smooching in his car…It was a love affair that went on until the day he died.”
Originally aired May 12, 2006, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Michelle Cadwallader and Tracey Epp
Michelle Cadwallader (right) discusses her grandmother with her friend Tracey Epp.
Part of her charm came from her odd nicknames and unique behaviors, but as Michelle grew older she realized that her grandmother had mood swings and impaired judgment, and suffered from bipolar disorder.
Originally aired April 14, 2006, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Mary D’Andrea, Anthony D’Andrea, and Monica McInerney
Anthony D’Andrea rarely attended ballgames as a kid because he didn’t have the money for a ticket. 
But that didn’t keep him from hanging around Yankee Stadium—especially during the summer when he would try to collect autographs.
In 1943, as the Yankees were on a quest for a World Series title, D’Andrea went on a quest of his own, to getting the entire team to sign his baseball.
At StoryCorps he tells his daughters, Mary (left) and Monica (right), about his younger days autograph hunting in the Bronx.
Originally aired April 7, 2006, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Sarah Littman and Joshua Littman
Joshua Littman, 12, was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, formerly referred to as Asperger’s Syndrome.
Josh, who can often come across as eccentric, has an obsession with animals. At StoryCorps they discussed pets, lying, friends, family, and the hardships of life.
Originally aired March 17, 2006, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Shasti O’Leary-Soudant and Jethro Soudant
Jethro Soudant talks with his wife, Shasti O’Leary-Soudant, about her fight with Hodgkin’s disease. In what was “the happiest and the worst day” of her life, as the disease and treatment made her sick, she recalls that a joke Jethro told her made it all seem better.
Originally aired February 17, 2006, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Sulochana and Melissa Konur
Sulochana Konur, who was betrothed two months after she turned 15, discusses their different paths to marriage with her daughter-in-law Melissa.
Asked for advice, Sulochana offered, “As you stay married longer, you will find out things that are different about each other, not what is common about each other…And you have to grow together rather than looking for something in common.”
Originally aired on January 27, 2006, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Kim Emerson and Gladys Chen
Kim Emerson tells her friend Gladys Chen about the day Kim’s sister, Kendra Webdale, was killed when a mentally ill man pushed her in front of an oncoming New York City subway train.
Originally aired January 6, 2006, on NPR’s Morning Edition.