Hey folks, my name is Max Young Rice.
I'm a producer on the StoryCorps Podcast. Just want to remind you that you can tell us your personal stories by calling our voicemail at 702 706 TALK.
This week we want to know How Did You Make an Unlikely Friend?
That's 702 706 TALK.
Hi, I'm Dave Ice, a founder of StoryCorps.
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Hey, it's Jasmine Morris, and this is the StoryCorps Podcast from NPR.
What are the most important lessons you've learned in life?
What's the best thing that ever happened to you?
If there's anything you ever wanted to ask… Can I ask it now?
Yeah, okay every episode we draw on the largest archive of human voices ever recorded to find big stories hidden in ordinary lives Spring is here and love is in the air So this week we've got stories for you about finding love in the most unexpected places People we never thought we'd put up with relationships.
We didn't see coming friends and lovers who are never part of the plan First up, Bud and Jackie Jones.
They met in the fifties and built a life surrounded by three kids and a lot of animals, both living and stuffed.
Together at their taxidermy shop in Tallapoosa, Georgia, they mounted everything from possums to a life -sized model of an American Mastodon.
They first came to StoryCorps in 2018, and while some love stories start with chocolates and roses, Bud and Jackie's began with a pet snake.
What do you remember about our first date?
Well, I got in the car and you said, now don't get excited, Jackie, but my pet snake is loose in this car and I'm not a snake person.
But you tufted out.
I tufted out. You were a hot number for me.
We dated for two years and then we decided to elope.
I remember you didn't want your mother and daddy to know where we're going.
So you threw your clothes out the window.
I did. And by then it was night and we had to go to the judge's house.
And when we got there, he was drunk.
Well, he wasn't exactly drunk, he was just kind of wobbling a little.
Well, he was feeling real good.
Yeah, he was feeling good.
Well, I must have been crazy and loved to go through this.
We seldom ever have an argument, but if it is, it's something like an elephant's eye.
She's kind of bossy.
And I admit it, but I'll say right here that you do know a lot.
Well, I'll be, I need to record that.
Life has not been dope with you, Bud, but it has been fun.
I've told my family when I die, I won on my tombstone to say I had a good time and I have really had a good time and I've had a partner all of these years that I wouldn't trade for anybody.
Thank you. Thank you, Jacque and I love you.
I love you too. I love you more than you love me.
Oh, I don't think that's true.
I love you most. After nearly seven decades of marriage, Bud died in October of 2024.
He was 94 years old.
Jackie came back to StoryCorps with her daughter Cherry in early 2025 to reflect on life without Bud.
My mother said one time that she'd never seen anybody love each other like we loved each other.
Some mornings I wake up and think he's in the bed with me.
People call me and they just can't believe we don't have him here.
And I said, well, he's here.
He's all around me.
After 68 years, how else can I feel?
His fingerprints were all over the shop.
Everywhere you turn, you're reminded who started that place.
He was the best. I know that.
I had the best of a husband.
I couldn't have asked for anybody better.
I got the best one.
I'm just grateful that I caught him.
I don't know how I got him, but I did.
Jackie continues to run the taxidermy business in Tallapoosa, but now with their daughter Cherry.
Our next love story comes from Emma Torres and her husband Rogelio.
Both grew up in families of migrant farm workers.
They met in the early 1980s near Yuma, Arizona when Emma reached out to But love was the last thing on their minds.
— You were not the type of woman I was looking for.
— And you were not my type.
The last person I would look at was you, but we started being friends.
Then I saw that you were very good with kids, and I had two kids.
— Yeah, you used me as a babysitter.
— That was my first interest. You know, when I was in my 20s, My first husband died of leukemia.
I was so angry, so upset at life.
I was afraid that if I married you, you would die also.
And then I would be a widow again, and I would have to go through the same cycle.
But I just thought, when life hits you like this, you have to be strong.
You have to stand up.
I dropped school in sixth grade.
So my goal was just to speak English and get my GED.
And then I would have achieved more education than my family ever had.
And the more I would go into night classes and learning, the more I saw the value of education.
That's why I kept telling you, come on, go to school.
Learn to speak English.
Education is what breaks the cycle of the poverty that we're in.
You know, as soon as I finished my elementary school, I started working full -time.
And I do love to work in the fields, but for me, it was an obstacle because if I go to school, I stop working, and in our family, we were proud that we never go to unemployment.
— So that was a hard conversation, but, ya gracias, de la honda.
You understood. — The most important part for me is that you realize your dreams, and they become my dreams too.
— After pursuing a bachelor's and then a master's degree in social work, which was beyond my wildest dreams. We decided to serve our farmworker families and help them improve their lives.
And life is to serve, serve others, help others.
You know, I admire you as a woman, as a mother, as a leader.
You got your pants on.
Dos calcenos y pues te.
As we had agreed, Before anything, we would be always friends, and I think that has worked.
We are very fortunate to have each other.
Rogelio and Emma Torres in Yuma, Arizona.
They've been married for almost 40 years and have dedicated their lives to fellow farm workers at the border.
After the break, an unlikely friendship.
I was out in the yard, just petering around.
You knew just what to say to get me hooked into a conversation.
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Natalie Parsh was 79, and Kelsey Jane was 31, when they came to StoryCorps to talk about their surprising friendship.
They'd lived next door to each other for years before they actually met, and when they did, they realized that despite a five decade age gap, they had a lot in common. In a warning, this conversation contains a mention of child sexual assault.
I was out in the yard just petering around, and I met you at my front gate because our dogs had met.
You saw me with my girlfriend, and you wanted to know some stuff about the queer community if I remember correctly.
I wanted to know how to talk to my grandson because I offended him right and left. You knew just what to say to get me hooked into a conversation.
What was going through my life at that time was realizing I was alone.
And then you just came in and I wasn't so alone anymore.
I realized that I had somebody that wasn't afraid to talk.
I shared that I was molested when I was eight years old, and it was said that it was a misunderstanding.
and nobody ever said anything more to me about it.
I got to where I didn't trust anybody, and things went dark.
I got married when I was 15, and I had my third child when I was 19.
I became a violent drunk and drug addict until I got sober.
The worst part is I was not a good mother.
And I loved my children.
Is it heavy to look back on that in your older years?
If I touch the pain, it's as intense as it ever was.
I think a lot of what brought us together was having that shared experience you know, that I was sexually abused as a child by my father.
What was it like for you to hear my story?
It was heartbreaking.
But to listen to you and be there for you, it just felt like an honor.
Because the only thing I want to tell you is you just made a difference in my life.
You know, I was planning on dying within the next couple of years because I knew I was through.
And then you just got me excited again.
I'm so thankful you're still around.
Oh, me too. I would have missed a lot.
Natalie Parsh and Kelsey Jane.
They no longer live next to each other, but they're still close.
Don't forget to give us a call and leave your story on our voicemail line.
Our question for this week is tell us how you made an unlikely friend.
Give us that story in a voicemail at 702 -706 -talk.
That's 702 -706 -TALK.
This week's stories were produced by Savannah Winchester, Kelly Moffitt, Joe Carona and Hallie Hewitt.
They were edited by Amy Drosdovska and Von Diaz.
Fact checking by Trinity Jackson, Rachel Goldman and Simi Kadirghomar. This podcast is produced by Max Jungreiss, Judd Esti Kendall is our senior producer, our technical director is Jared Floyd and our executive producer is Amy Drosdovska.
Liz McCarty creates the artwork for our podcast. I'm Jasmine Morris.
Thanks for listening.
... Support for this podcast comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.
every single one of us at the
