Doug Neville and Ryan Johnson

Doug Neville (left) and Ryan Johnson (right) met in 1986, shortly before Doug was diagnosed as HIV-positive.

At StoryCorps, they talk about their three decades of friendship and how Doug’s diagnosis has shaped their perspectives on life.

Originally aired December 21, 2014 on NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday.

Dekalb Walcott Jr. and Dekalb Walcott III

Dekalb Walcott Jr. spent more than 30 years as a firefighter for the Chicago Fire Department.

He’s now retired, but his son, Dekalb Walcott III, is following in his dad’s line of work. At StoryCorps, Dekalb III talks about how becoming a firefighter meant fulfilling a lifelong dream.

Dekalb Walcott III also wrote and recorded a song, “It’s a Callin’,” about his career. Listen to it here:

Originally aired July 4, 2014, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Frank Tempone and Jack Tempone

In 2009, Frank Tempone (left) was severely depressed. As a result of what he calls a mid-life crisis, Frank left his wife and three kids to go live on his own.

After two years apart, Frank reunited with his family. He brought his oldest son, Jack (right), to StoryCorps to apologize.

Originally aired May 2, 2014, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Voices from StoryCorpsU: Justin

“I had to give her a baby Heimlich maneuver because she’s not old enough for a real Heimlich maneuver.”

Justin, a student at Corliss High School in Chicago, Illinois, made this StoryCorpsU (SCU) recording during the 2012-2013 school year.*

Read Justin’s story below:

Hello, this is Justin. Today I will be telling you a story about how I had to save my baby sister’s life. It was, I think, maybe 4 years ago. She was a baby back then, and I had to keep her from eating a cotton ball. A cotton ball—I know. Don’t ask me how she got ahold of cotton balls because I don’t know either. That day I had to babysit her and her big sister, who is my little sister. Everything was going smoothly, we were all all right, and nothing was going wrong. Then, you know, she’s a baby, and the cotton balls caught her attention. You know what a baby does when something catches their attention—she put it in her mouth. She had to see if it was edible I guess.

I’m in the room, playing my game, and all of a sudden, I look over to her and she’s coughing, and she’s coughing, and she’s coughing, and she’s coughing. Then, you know, because she was a baby, I had to give her the baby Heimlich maneuver. I had to give her a baby Heimlich maneuver because she’s not old enough for a real Heimlich maneuver. I had to pick her up, flip her over on her stomach, put her on my knee and rub her back really softly then pat it every few seconds. Then once it got up to her throat, and her throat wasn’t that big back then, I had to actually stick my fingers down and get the cotton out, but I could only get a little bit.

I’m still patting her back when my grandma finally walks into the room and asks, “What happened? What happened? How did this happen? How could you let this happen?” I’m only like 11 years old, 10 years old back then and I didn’t even know how to handle it. I tried my hardest, I was patting her back and I was rubbing and then I was reaching in her mouth trying to get it out of her mouth. It kept on seeming like she was trying to resist me, and she kept on trying to put it back down her throat. I had to pat it and pat it and rub it and rub it and rub it out until I had to hand her over to my grandmother. My grandmother was a nurse, just as my mother is. My mother wasn’t there at the time we were babysitting, so my grandmother knew what to do.

She grabbed her and pulled her. I don’t know how to describe it, but she did the same thing that I did but she rubbed the back of her throat and then she told me to put my hand in her mouth and pulled the cotton out. I almost touched her tonsils. I had to get my hand that deep in her throat. I had my hand pretty deep in her mouth, with slop and blood all over my hands. Eventually it finally happens that the cotton ball decided to cough and fall into my hand with the blood. She started breathing back to normal, but my mother came to the house and she was panicking, and she still had to take her to the emergency room like a mother would. She took her to the emergency room because it was her baby and she had to check and see what was wrong with her baby. She took her there and the doctor had to put my little sister to sleep and get the cotton out of her throat by putting some sort of tube down her throat and sucking all the cotton out of her throat up through her stomach. It’s like a little tube, without pulling her intestines out, and they looked inside with a little flash light type thing to see if there was any cotton left or anything that wasn’t supposed to be in there. They found out that everything was all right with her. She was fine.

*This story was recorded at the conclusion of the “Where We’re From” SCU unit, in response to one or more of the following prompts:

• Tell a story about someone who has had a significant impact on your life.

• Tell a story about a place that is important to you. Paint a picture of the place and talk about why it’s important to you.

• Tell a story about an accomplishment or event from you past that had a significant impact on you.

Celeste Davis-Carr and Aaron

In 2013, Aaron, a freshman at Corliss High School on the South Side of Chicago, was living on the streets.

Celeste Davis-Carr, Aaron’s teacher, learned that he was homeless through a recording he made while his English class was participating in StoryCorpsU, a former program of StoryCorps Education.

A year later, they sat down to make another recording for StoryCorps.

Aaron’s last name and photo were withheld at the request of his foster care agency.

Originally aired March 7, 2014, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Lionel D’Luna, Adrienne D’Luna Directo and Debra D’Luna

Alexis D’Luna had CHARGE Syndrome, a rare, life-threatening genetic condition that causes a number of birth defects. Alexis was intellectually disabled, legally blind and had hearing problems. She stood just under 5 feet tall because of deformities in her legs and back.

Many children with CHARGE don’t live beyond infancy, but Alexis lived to be 25. She died in her sleep in December 2012.

Her parents, Debra and Lionel D’Luna, came to StoryCorps with her sister, Adrienne, to remember her.

Originally aired January 24, 2014, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Dan Miller and Celeste Januszewski

Dan Miller grew up in Wisconsin, one of nine children with an alcoholic and abusive father.

At StoryCorps, he talks with his wife, Celeste Januszewski, about his father’s influence on his life, and how he has tried to eliminate the behaviors he experienced from his own children’s lives.

Originally aired September 20, 2013, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Ondelee Perteet and Deetreena Perteet

One night in 2009, 14-year-old Ondelee Perteet and a friend went to a party in his hometown of Chicago. He got into an argument and was shot in the face.

When his mother, Detreena, arrived at the hospital, doctors told her he would never move his arms and legs again. She then moved into the hospital with her son and was there for him through each difficult moment.

At StoryCorps, Ondelee tells his mother that while he knows how hard it was for her to see him in a wheelchair, he “felt blessed to have my mama do this for me” and never give up on him.

Ondelee is now enrolled at Malcolm X College in Chicago and plans to start school in January 2014 to study communications, with hopes of becoming a motivational speaker.

Originally aired August 9, 2013, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Patricia Lyons Simon Newman and her son Scott Simon

Patricia Lyons Simon Newman talks with her son, Scott Simon, host of NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday, about some of things she has learned from him.

Patricia Lyons Simon Newman passed away on July 29, 2013.

Alexis Martinez and Lesley Martinez Etherly

Growing up in the 1960s in a housing project on the South Side of Chicago, Alexis Martinez (left) knew that she had to hide from others that she is transgender.

At StoryCorps, she told her daughter, Lesley Martinez Etherly (right), about growing up, parenthood, and now living as a woman.

Originally aired May 5, 2013, on NPR’s Morning Edition.