Walking in a Mother’s Legacy
Sada Jackson lost her mother, Ileana Watson, to breast cancer in 2016. Just after saying goodbye to her own mother, Sada became a mother herself.
Years later, Sada was still longing for all the moments they’d never get to share — and thinking about all the questions she never got to ask. So she sat down at StoryCorps in Kansas City, Missouri with her mom’s best friend, Angela Morehead-Mugita, to get to know her mom a little better.
Top photo: Sada Jackson (right) at StoryCorps in Kansas City, MO in 2018 with her late-mother’s best friend, Angela Morehead-Mugita. By Savannah Winchester for StoryCorps.
Middle photo: Sada Jackson with her mother, Ilena Watson, in October 2014. Courtesy of Sada Jackson.
Bottom photo: Sada Jackson with her son, Kendrix, in November 2018. By Bria Siglar.
Originally aired May 10, 2019, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
‘We Were Lucky’: Kids of Holocaust Survivors Learned Their Parents’ Life Philosophy
Abe and Esther Schuster grew up children of Holocaust survivors. Their father, Judel, lost his parents and sister in the Sarny ghetto. Pauline, their mother, lost her entire family — they were murdered during the Nazi occupation of Uman, then part of the Soviet Union.
Pauline and Judel met in Stalingrad and married there in 1945, shortly before they entered a displaced persons camp in Italy. Four years later, they left Europe and arrived by boat in New York to begin a new life.
At StoryCorps, Abe and Esther sat down to remember their parents’ philosophy of life. And as Abe’s high school math teacher would learn, that didn’t always mean following the rules.
Top photo: Pauline and Judel Schuster on their wedding day in Stalingrad, April 1945. Courtesy of Esther and Abe Schuster.
Middle photo: Abe and Esther Schuster for StoryCorps in Birmingham, AL in February 2019. Photo by Jacqueline Van Meter.
Originally aired May 3, 2019, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Adopted Woman Finds Siblings, Learns Family Secret
Lisa Bouler Daniels grew up knowing she was adopted; and as an adult, she began searching for her birth family.
By the time she found them, both her birth mother and her adoptive mother had passed away. But she did track down her biological brother: Benjamin Chambers.
And the story of her adoption unearthed a family secret that had been kept quiet for decades.
Photo: Benjamin Chambers and Lisa Bouler Daniels at the Chicago StoryBooth in December 2018. Rocio Santos/StoryCorps.
Originally aired April 26, 2019, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
A Teenage Romance, Rekindled After Three Decades
It was the spring of 1981 in Louisiana. Liz Barnez was 16 and Lori Daigle was 17. They met while playing on competing high school sports teams. When they joined the all-star softball team that summer, their friendship blossomed into something more.
At StoryCorps in Fort Collins, Colorado, Liz and Lori sat down to reflect on their teenage romance, and how they reunited nearly 30 years later.
They married in 2015 after the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage. That was more than 30 years after their first kiss.
Top photo: Lori Daigle and Liz Barnez at StoryCorps in Fort Collins, Colorado. Photo by Jacqueline Van Meter for StoryCorps.
Middle photo: Liz Barnez and Lori Daigle in the summer of 1981. Photo courtesy of Lori Daigle.
Bottom photo: Robert Herman, Lori Daigle, Liz Barnez, and Haley Daigle, from left to right, at Liz Barnez and Lori Daigle’s wedding in 2015. Photo by Kris Harmon and courtesy of Lori Daigle.
Originally aired March 8, 2019, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
How Sheep Farming Helped an Injured Army Vet Overcome PTSD
Mickey Willenbring has always been a fighter. She grew up being shuffled between her family on reservations in the upper Midwest, family on the West Coast, and in the foster care system.
The Army called to her as a way to take control of her life, and at the age of 20, she enlisted.
What she didn’t know was that her biggest fight would lie not on the battlefield, but in coming home.
She came to StoryCorps in Eugene, Oregon to remember.
Over the past nine years, Mickey has owned and operated the Dot Ranch Navajo-Churro sheep farm in rural Oregon. She says she hasn’t had a major episode related to her PTSD since starting the ranch.
Top photo: Mickey Willenbring poses at her StoryCorps interview in Eugene, Oregon on January 26, 2019. Photo by Dupe Oyebolu/StoryCorps.
Bottom photo: Mickey Willenbring at work on her ranch with one of her Navajo-Churro sheep. Photo by Tim Herrera.
Originally aired March 1, 2019, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Remembering the Start of a Lifelong Love of Books
At StoryCorps, we’re used to hearing tales of love. But here’s one of a different sort: a love letter to the written word.
Meet Alagappa Rammohan, who has amassed enough books over the course of his life to fill a small library (10,000, to be exact).
Rammohan immigrated from India to the United States in 1962. He came to StoryCorps in Chicago with his daughter, Paru Venkat, who as a child witnessed his love of books.
Continuing his lifelong love of books and learning, Rammohan plans to donate all 10,000 of his books to a learning center and library he’s founded in his hometown in India.
Top photo: Paru Venkat and Alagappa Rammohan pose after their StoryCorps interview in Chicago on June 23, 2018. By Eliza Lambert for StoryCorps.
Bottom photo: Alagappa Rammohan poses at the site of the ancient Great Library at Alexandria (350 B.C. – 280 B.C.) in Alexandria, Egypt in 2013. Courtesy Alagappa Rammohan.
Originally aired January 4, 2019, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
In the US 50 Years, a Man Reflects on His Arrival from Honduras
A half-century ago, Roy Daley was 23 years old and living in the capital of Honduras when a friend offered him a job in the United States. So he immigrated with little more than two shirts and a change of pants.
Roy came to StoryCorps with his wife, Ana, and his daughter, Lucy, to talk about his early days in America.
Top photo: Roy Daley with his wife, Ana Smith-Daley (L) and his daughter Lucy Figueroa (R) at the StoryCorps MobileBooth in Austin, TX. By Savannah Winchester for StoryCorps.
Originally aired November 23rd, 2018, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Strangers Talk in Hopes of Bridging Their Political Divides
Here at StoryCorps, we’re used to hearing conversations between two people who know and love one another.
In this story, we eavesdrop on a conversation that’s a little bit different. It takes place between two strangers, and was recorded as part of One Small Step, our new initiative that brings people together from opposite sides of the political divide.
In summer of 2018, Tiffany Briseño and Israel Baryeshua met for the first time in Denver to have this discussion.
Photo: Tiffany Briseño and Israel Baryeshua pose at their One Small Step interview in Denver, Colorado on July 18, 2018. By Camila Kerwin for StoryCorps.
Originally aired November 9, 2018, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Transgender Child Tells Mom ‘It Shouldn’t Be Scary To Be Who You Are’
Parents and children often come to StoryCorps to share the most important moments in their lives. That’s just what 12-year-old Kaysen Ford had in mind when they came to StoryCorps with their mother, Jennifer Sumner.
Growing up in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Kaysen is the youngest of seven children.
At StoryCorps, the two sat down to reflect.
Top photo: Jennifer Sumner and her child, Kaysen Ford, at their StoryCorps interview on April 17, 2015 in Birmingham, AL. Photo by Christina Stanton for StoryCorps.
Bottom photo: Kaysen Ford and Jennifer Sumner at their home on October 24, 2018. Courtesy of the Ford family.
Originally aired October 26, 2018, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
A Soldier on Suffering from PTSD and Finding a Home in Fashion
Army Specialist Duane Topping served three tours in Iraq before medically retiring in 2012.
Although he comes across as a tough guy with his tattoos and leather jacket, while deployed he found comfort from an unlikely place. Duane came to StoryCorps with his wife, Jamie Topping, to recall the difficulties of transitioning to civilian life while struggling with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Today, Duane and Jamie run a successful design house out of Denver, Colorado. In September, they returned home from their first official show at New York Fashion Week.
Top photo: Jamie and Duane Topping pose during their StoryCorps interview in the Topping Designs studio in Wheat Ridge, Colorado on May 17, 2018. Photo by Mia Warren for StoryCorps.
Middle photo: Duane Topping poses in Kuwait while deployed as an Army Specialist in 2006, during his second deployment to Iraq. Courtesy of Duane Topping.
Bottom photo: Duane Topping works at his design studio in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Photo by Mia Warren for StoryCorps.
Originally aired October 6, 2018, on NPR’s Weekend Edition.