As we continue celebrating StoryCorps’ 20th anniversary, we bring you two of our favorite stories that made a strong impression on our listeners, and share updates with the participants from the last two decades.
Released on October 31, 2023.
Transcript
Michael Garofalo (MG): It’s Friday morning. You’re in your car driving to work… stuck in traffic… can’t wait for the weekend to begin. You’re listening to the news on the radio… It’s all bad. And then, you hear this…
[MORNING EDITION MUSIC]
MG: Since May 2005, when that music starts on NPRs Morning Edition… listeners know that they’re about to hear a StoryCorps interview. And that music has created a, sort of, pavlovian response in millions of people. They know they are about to cry.
Jasmyn Morris (JM): Yeah, and we’ve thought a lot about this over the years. Why DOES StoryCorps make you cry?
MG: I think there are a bunch of reasons, but a big one is that one of the things that StoryCorps does is …it connects people…and that happens in the booth between the two people having the conversation, but it also connects those people with US…the ones who get to listen to that conversation…
<MUSIC>
JM: And so we’re going to spend the rest of this episode with two stories that generated a response so strong in listeners…that the StoryCorps participants even got something in return…
MG: We’re calling this episode Love Letters…you’ll find out why as we move through the stories.
I’m Michael Garofalo…
JM: And I’m Jasmyn Morris. From NPR… this is StoryCorps Then and Now… a celebration of 20 years of StoryCorps.
[MUSIC ENDS]
MG: To kick things off – a couple from Brooklyn with a love story for the ages.
Danny Perasa was a horse-betting clerk. His wife, Annie, was a nurse. When they came to StoryCorps… Danny and Annie had been married for 25 years… and during their interview… they talked about what happened on their very first date.
Danny Perasa (DP): She started to talk, and I said, ‘Listen, I’m going to deliver a speech.’ I said, ‘at the end you’re gonna want to go home.’ I said, ‘you represent a thirty four letter word,’ I said, ‘that word is love.’ I says, ‘if we’re going anywhere we’re going down the aisle because I’m too tired, too sick and too sore to do any other damn thing.’ And she turned around and she said, ‘Of course I’ll marry you.’ And the next morning I called her as early as I possibly could –
Annie Perasa (AP): And he always gets up early – (laughs)
DP: – to make sure she hadn’t changed her mind, and she hadn’t. And every year on April 22 around three o’clock, I call her and ask her if it was today would she do it again, and so far the answer’s been the same.
AP: Yeah, twenty-five times yes. (laughs)
DP: You see, the thing of it is; I always feel guilty when I say I love you, to you, and I say it so often, I say it to remind you that as dumpy as I am, it’s coming from me. It’s like hearing a beautiful song from a busted old radio. And it’s nice of you to keep the radio around the house.
AP: If I don’t have a note on the kitchen table, I think there’s something wrong. You write a love letter to me every morning.
DP: The only thing that could possibly be wrong is that I couldn’t find a silly pen.
AP: To my princess, the weather out today is extremely rainy, I’ll call you at eleven twenty in the morning –
DP: It’s a romantic weather report.
AP: –And I love you, I love you, I love you.
DP: When a guy is happily married, no matter what happens at work, no matter what happens in the rest of the day, there’s a shelter when you get home, there’s a knowledge, knowing that you can hug somebody without them throwing you down the stairs and saying ‘get your hands off me.’ And, being married is like having a color television set, you never want to go back to black and white.
[MUSIC]
JM: So that conversation wouldn’t be the last time we’d hear from Danny and Annie. In fact, Danny did a bunch of interviews.
DP: This is the latest in what is becoming the chronicles of Perasa…
He came back with Annie…
TAPE: 0:08
DP: Okay, my name is Dan Perasa. I’m 67, I think.
AP: 66
DP: 66.
AP: If you wanna be 67, be 67.
DP: Naw, I look 67. (laughs)
MG: He interviewed baseball umpires and cops that he knew: Anyone that he could get into the booth.He’d even call us here at StoryCorps at least once a week with an update. In fact, once he called and said, “Hey, I just had cataract surgery. You need me to come in and talk about it?”
JM: Danny and Annie embodied the spirit of StoryCorps… that thing that Studs talked about in our last episode… celebrating the uncelebrated. Danny once told us that he loved StoryCorps because, all his life, people had been telling him to shut the hell up… but we asked him to keep talking.
MG: And listeners fell in love with them too. Here’s Annie at the Library of Congress…speaking at a StoryCorps event.
AP: We flew down, and I had to go to the bathroom. So I go into the bathroom and I come out and there’s a woman washing her hands, and washing her hands… I’m a nurse by profession and I know she’s a nurse. I say, ‘Oh you’re here for a conference?’ So she says, ‘Yes.’ She says, ‘What are you here for?’ I says, ‘I’m here for a press conference for National Public Radio.’ And she says, ‘I listen to National Public Radio all the time.’ She says, ‘Just a few months ago, there was this couple that was on.’ [Laughs] And I said to her, ‘pardon?’ She says, ‘Yes, Annie and Danny.’ I said, ‘Well, I’m Annie.’ ‘Where’s Danny?’ She runs out, hands still wet, and she says, ‘Hi, I heard you – is it true? Do you really write the letters?’ And I’m standing there going, wow. And I never knew, like, what radio does for people. We’ve had so much fun. Thank you. [Applause]
MG: Then in 2006, we got the news that Danny had been diagnosed with a fast-spreading terminal cancer. He wanted to do one more interview with Annie, but he was too sick to come to the booth. So we went to their apartment in Brooklyn. When we recorded this, Danny was lying on a couch. Annie was sitting in a chair next to him.
AP: The illness is not hard on me; it’s just, you know, the finality of it— and him, he goes along like a trooper.
DP: Listen, even downhill a car doesn’t roll unless it’s pushed and you’re giving me a great push. The deal of it is, we try to give each other hope, and not hope that I’ll live, hope that she’ll do well after I pass, hope that people will support her, hope that if she meets somebody and likes ’em, she marries ’em.
AP: Yeah, he has everything planned, you know.
DP: I’m working on it. She said it was her call. She wants to walk out behind the casket alone. I guess that’s the way to do it because when we were married, you know how your brother takes you down, your father takes you down? She said, ‘well, I don’t know which of my brothers to walk in with, I don’t want to offend anybody.’ I says, ‘I got a solution.’ I said, ‘you walk in with me, you walk out with me.’ And the other day, I said ‘who’s gonna walk down the aisle with you behind the casket,’ you know, to support her and she said ‘nobody; I walked in with you alone. I’m walking out with you alone.’
AP: Mm hmm.
DP: There’s a thing in life where you have to come to terms with dying. Well, I haven’t come to terms with dying yet. I want to come to terms with being sure that you understand that my love for you up to this point was as much as it could be and it’ll be as much as it could be for eternity. I always said the only thing I have to give you was a poor gift and it’s myself, and I always gave it, and if there’s a way to come back and give it, I’ll do that too.
Do you have the Valentine’s Day letter there?
AP: Yeah. (AP Reads Note) My dearest wife, this is a very special day. It is a day on which we share our love which still grows after all these years. Now that love is being used by us to sustain us through these hard times. All my love, all my days and more. Happy Valentine’s Day.
DP: (Crying) I could write on and on about her. She lights up the room in the morning when she tells me to put both hands on her shoulders so that she can support me. She lights up my life when she says to me at night, ‘wouldn’t you like a little ice cream?’… or ‘would you please drink more water?’ I mean, those aren’t very romantic things to say, but they stir my heart. In my mind and my heart there has never been, there is not now, and never will be another Annie.
[MUSIC]
JM: That ended up being Danny and Annie’s final StoryCorps interview. We recorded it on a Thursday, broadcast it the next Friday, and Danny died that afternoon.
Since then, one of the most common questions we get here at StoryCorps is, “Whatever happened to Annie?” Well, we’ll let her tell you.
TAPE:
AP: I live with the philosophy that Danny and I always had, it was: Never Say Goodbye. And I miss my letters from Danny, I do. But after Danny died, I had received thirteen hundred letters of condolences. I mean, I got letters as far away as Beijing, China, you know? Or Paris, France — ’My English is not too well, please excuse me. I wish to send my condolences.’ So I would read one a day because Danny wrote me a love letter every day.
You know, like people say, ”You must miss Danny terribly.” No. It was an honor to be married to him. So it’s not terrible that I had the time to be with him. You know, life is too short. You come, and you’re gone. But Danny didn’t go. He’s not gone because of StoryCorps.
[MUSIC]
MG: Those letters from listeners – not only did Annie read one every day… she placed a copy of them inside Danny’s coffin at his funeral. We’re going to read a couple of those letters to you now.
Dear Danny & Annie – Your story makes me want to climb tall mountains and rejoice in the name of love. It makes me want to run out tomorrow morning and marry the love of my life. In twenty years, I’ll be telling my grandchildren about the stories of an amazing couple that I never met but felt as if I knew all my life.
JM: And here’s another…
Thank you for sharing your deep love, friendship and joy with all of us. I heard your voices, your words, and I will never be the same. Now, I am connected with you too. Now I walk with a little more love in my heart.
MG: Letters for Annie, like these, continued to come in over the years… They were actually mostly emails and Annie didn’t have an email address… So we’d print them out and then send them along to her. But then, in August 2021… Annie Perasa died from COVID. She was 79.
Annie said Danny would always be around because of StoryCorps… Well, she will too.
Stay with us…
BREAK
JM: Welcome back. In the second half of this episode… we’re going to trace one remarkable kid’s journey into adulthood.
Joshua Littman (JL): Alright. My name is Joshua Littman. I’m 12 years old. We’re in Grand Central Terminal and I’m here with Mummy.
MG: Josh and his mom, Sarah Darer Littman, first recorded with StoryCorps in 2006.
Josh was an 8th grade honors student… but was having a tough time socially. He’d been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder as a small child… he struggled with social cues… and could have obsessions. Back then, it was animals.
TAPE: 2:58
JL: From a scale of 1 to 10, do you think your life would be different without animals?
Sarah Darer Littman (SDL): I think it would be about an 8 without animals because they add so much pleasure to life.
JL: How else do you think your life would be different without them?
SDL: I could do without things like cockroaches and snakes.
JL: Well, I’m okay with snakes as long as they’re not venomous and, or like, can constrict you or anything.
SDL: Yeah, I’m not a big snake person.
JL: But the cockroach is just the insect we love to hate.
SDL: Yeah. It really is.
JL: Have you ever felt like life is hopeless?
SDL: When I was a teenager I was very depressed and I think that can be quite common with teenagers who think a lot and that are perceptive.
JL: Am I like that?
SDL: You’re very much like that?
JL: Do you have any mortal enemies?
SDL: I would say my worst enemy is sometimes myself. But I don’t think I have any mortal enemies.
JL: Have you ever lied to me?
SDL: I probably have, but I try not to lie to you, even if sometimes the questions you ask me make me uncomfortable.
JL: Like when we go on our walks? And some of the questions I might ask?
SDL: Yeah. But you know what? I feel it’s really special that you and I can have those kind of talks, even if sometimes I feel myself blushing a little bit.
JL: Have you ever felt like you couldn’t cope with having a child?
SDL: [laughs] I remember when you were a baby you had really bad colic and you used to just cry and cry—
JL: What’s colic?
SDL: It’s when you get this stomachache and all you can do is scream for hours and hours—
JL: Even louder than Amy does?
SDL: You were pretty loud, but Amy’s was more high-pitched.
JL: I think it feels like everyone seems to like Amy more, like she’s the perfect little angel.
SDL: Well, I can understand why you think that people like Amy more, but being friendly comes easily to Amy, whereas I think for you it’s probably more difficult. But the people who take the time to get to know you love you so much.
JL: Like Ben or Eric or Carlos?
SDL: Yeah.
JL: Like I have better quality friends but less quantity?
SDL: I wouldn’t judge the quality, but I think–
JL: I mean, first it was like Amy loved Claudia then she hated Claudia, she loved Claudia then she hated Claudia.
SDL: Part of that’s a girl thing, honey. The important thing for you is that you have a few very good friends, and really that’s what you need in life.
JL: Did I turn out to be the son you wanted when I was born? Like, did I meet your expectations, and…?
SDL: You’ve exceeded my expectations, sweetie. Because, you know, sure, you have these fantasies of what your child’s gonna be like, but you have made me grow so much as a parent because you think –
JL: Well, I was the one who made you a parent.
SDL: You were the one who made me a parent. That’s a good point. But also because you think differently from, you know, what they tell you in the parenting books.
JL: Yeah.
SDL: I really had to learn to think out of the box with you. And it’s made me much more creative as a parent and as a person, and I’ll always thank you for that.
JL: And that helped when Amy was born?
SDL: And that helped when Amy was born. But you are just so incredibly special to me, and I’m so lucky to have you as my son.
[MUSIC]
MG: Ok, so those questions, right? And there’s more that didn’t make it into the cut from the full interview.
JM: But they’re too good to keep to ourselves, so here you go…
JL: Do you think the U.S. is becoming a mess of a country? Seems today that young people have an obsession with, like, swearing and sex.
JL: Ok, next question, do you think I am unhealthy?
JL: Is there anyone you wish was dead? Anyone at all?
JL: How does getting married feel?
JL: That question was stupid, I’ll skip it.
SDL: There’s no question that’s stupid, honey.
JL: Well, it’s just a ridiculous question. I’ll forget about it.
<MUSIC>
MG: Just like with Danny and Annie… letters for Josh and Sarah poured in.
JM: A few months after their story ran, we asked Sarah to reflect on what that was like…
SDL: We’re driving to school in the morning, which was usually when we would listen to StoryCorps on NPR, and all of a sudden, to hear our voices coming over the radio was really astounding.
But the most powerful thing about it was the response we got. And it was incredible to know that something we had done, really for ourselves, had ended up touching so many people’s lives in a positive way. Especially because at the time, Joshua was going through an extremely difficult time at school.
And we got over 500 emails from people saying what an amazing, intelligent, wonderful person he was. And it was just a huge boost to his self esteem at a time when he really needed it. And one of the things I did was put all the fan mail in a binder for him, so that if he ever felt bad about himself that he should read through it and see how many people from all over the country thought that he was an incredible kid, the same way I do.
<MUSIC>
MG: Five years after that first conversation… Josh and Sarah sat down again for StoryCorps… Josh had just started college. He was depressed, and Sarah was worried.
SDL: Does it bother you to think of home?
JL: I miss it. You know, I miss the dogs and everything.
SDL: You miss the dogs?
JL: And you, and…
SDL: [laughs]
JL: So how would you react if, like, I failed?
SDL: Failed your classes, or…?
JL: Failed my classes, failed college.
SDL: Well, if you came to me first and said, ”Look I’m having a really tough time.”
That’s one thing. But if you just sort of announce to me that you failed, then I’d be upset. Because I know how much potential you have. Is there anything you wanna tell me?
JL: What do you mean?
SDL: Or was that a hypothetical question?
JL: That was, like, a hypothetical question, yeah.
SDL: Ok. All right.
JM: Josh ended up leaving school later that semester and moving back home. But he tried again… and in 2017, he had this conversation with his mom.
SDL: Well, Josh, you’ve just graduated from college. Mazel tov!
JL: Thank you.
SDL: I mean, you certainly did really well.
JL: Eh.
SDL: You graduated with honors.
JL: Yeah, but not great honors.
SDL: Josh! It’s been an interesting road…
JL: Tell me about it. From the beginning I thought, like, I wasn’t ready,
SDL: I know. I pressured you to go.
JL: And, ended up being a disaster.
SDL: I’m sorry about that. I screwed up. That really made me doubt my judgment as a mother. Do you remember when I called you? I asked you if you were thinking of hurting yourself?
JL: Yeah, I do remember that.
SDL: You said, ‘no.’ But I said, ‘I’m coming to get you tomorrow.’
JL: Mmm.
SDL: But, I think you’ve come a long way. One thing that was a really pivotal moment was when Mom died. When we found out, I fell apart so completely in that moment.
JL: I remember.
SDL: Yeah. You know, like, I had spent my life looking after you, but, for the first time, you had to look after me.
JL: I mean, I’m sure, I mean Amy would’ve done the same thing, I mean.
SDL: I’m sure she would. But, she wasn’t there. You were. And you were a rock. It’s hard to find a silver lining in losing my mother…
JL: Yeah.
SDL: But, I’ve always tried to think of that as the gift that Mom gave me.
So do you remember what I said to you at your Bar Mitzvah?
JL: You said a lot of things at my Bar Mitzvah. What are you thinking of?
SDL: I quoted Shakespeare to you? ’Above all, to thine own self be true.’
JL: Well… Yeah sorry, go on.
SDL: I said it to you then and I want to say it to you now as you’re about to enter the world… because you’ve got an amazing brain [laughs].
JL: [laughs]
SDL: And just go out there and use it to do good things. And I know you will.
JL: Thank you.
SDL: I love you.
JL: I love you, too.
[MUSIC]
MG: Josh Littman and his mother Sarah. As we said, they recorded that last interview in 2017… and we can bring you up to date with their story.
JM: Sarah is now a successful young adult novelist… She just wrapped up her 20th book.
MG: And this fall, Josh started a graduate program in Library Science… and hopes to someday work at the Library of Congress… where all his StoryCorps interviews are housed.
MG: So far, we’ve brought you voices from New York City, where StoryCorps started.
JM: Next time – StoryCorps goes national.
James Ransom: We’re in Sarasota, Florida.
Rachel Salazar: We are in Waco.
Gabe López: I live in Tucson, Arizona and I’m sitting here with my mom.
JB: I’m sitting in downtown Charleston, West Virginia. I’m in the StoryCorps… uh, airstream trailer thing.
JM: This episode was produced by Jud Esty-Kendall with Max Jungreis. Our technical director is Jarrett Floyd.
MG: Art for this episode was created by Liz McCarty. Special thanks to Sarah Kramer, Katie Simon, Nick Yulman and Emily Janssen.
JM: Head over to StoryCorps – dot – org… to find out how to record your own StoryCorps conversation… you can go to one of our storybooths, use our app, or record remotely.
MG: I’m Michael Garofalo…
JM: And I’m Jasmyn Morris.
MG: We’ll be back next week. Thanks for listening.