Hi, I'm Dave I say founder of StoryCore.
Support for this podcast and the following message come from Dignity Memorial.
Did you know that a prepaid funeral plan is one of the greatest gifts you can give your
family, plan your life celebration in advance to protect your loved ones.
For additional information, visit DignityMemorial.com.
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.
Since May 2005, when that music starts on MPR's morning edition, listeners know that they
are about to hear a StoryCore interview.
And that music has created a sort of Pavlovian response in millions of people.
They know they are about to cry.
Yeah, and we've thought a lot about this over the years.
Why does StoryCore make you cry?
I think there are a bunch of reasons, but a big one is that one of the things that StoryCore
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.
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 StoryCore participants even got something in return.
We're calling this episode Love Letters.
We'll find out why as we move through the stories.
I'm Michael Garoflo.
And I'm Jasmine Morris.
From NPR, this is StoryCore then and now, a celebration of 20 years of StoryCore.
To kick things off, a couple from Brooklyn with a love story for the ages.
Danny Perazzo was a horse-bending clerk.
His wife Annie was a nurse.
When they came to StoryCore, Danny and Annie had been married for 25 years.
And during their interview, they talked about what happened on their very first date.
She started to talk and I said, listen, I'm going to deliver a speech.
I said, the end, you're going to want to go home.
I said, you represent a 34-letter word.
I said, that word is love.
I said, 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 dancing.
And she turned around and she said, well, of course I'm angry.
And the next morning I called her as early as I possibly could.
And he always gets up early to make sure she hadn't changed her mind and she hadn't.
And every year on April 22nd, around 3 o'clock, I called her and asked her if it was today
what she'd do it again.
And so far, the answer's been the same.
Yeah, 25 times, yes.
You see the thing about 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 lumpy as I am, it's coming from
here.
It's like hearing a beautiful song from a busted old radio.
And it's nice here to keep the radio around the house.
If I don't have a note on the kitchen table, I think there's something wrong.
You write a love letter to me.
I mean, the only thing that could possibly be wrong is I couldn't find a sewage pen.
To my princess, the weather out today is extremely rainy.
I'll call you at 11, 20 in the morning.
It's a romantic weather, you know.
And I love you, I love you, I love you.
When a guy is happily married, no matter what happens, it worked.
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 downstairs
and saying, get your hands off me.
And being married is like having a co-atelier inside.
You never want to go back to black and white.
So that conversation wouldn't be the last time we'd hear from Danny and Annie.
In fact, Danny did a bunch of interviews.
This is the latest in what is becoming the Chronicles of Parasite.
He came back with Annie.
Okay, my name is Dan Parasite.
I'm 67, I think.
66.
You want to be 67?
I look 67.
He interviewed baseball empires and cops that he knew.
Anyone he could get into the booth.
He'd even call us here at StoryCore at least once a week with an update.
In fact, once he called and said, hey, I just had cataract surgery and he made a comment
and talk about it.
Danny and Annie embodied the spirit of StoryCore, that thing that studs talked about in our last
episode, celebrating the uncelebrated.
Danny once told us that he loved StoryCore because all his life, people had been telling
him to shut the hell up.
But we asked him to keep talking.
And listeners fell in love with them too.
Here's Annie at the Library of Congress, speaking at a StoryCore event.
We flew down and I had to go to the bathroom.
So I went to the bathroom and I come out and there's a woman washing her hands.
And I'm watching a hands, I'm a nurse by profession and I know she's a nurse.
I say, oh, you hear for a conference?
So she says, yes.
She's, what are you here for?
I say, I'm here for a press conference.
It's a national public radio and she says, I listen, national public radio, all the
time.
She says, just a few months ago, there was this couple that was on.
And I said to her, pardon?
She says, yes.
Annie and Danny.
I says, well, I'm Annie.
With Danny, she runs out, hands still wet.
And she says, hi, I heard you say, is it true?
Do you really write the letters?
And I'm standing there going, wow.
And I never knew what radio does for people.
We've had so much fun.
Thank you.
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.
The illness is not hard on me.
It's just the finality of it.
And him, he goes along like a trooper.
Listen, even downhill, a car doesn't roll unless it's parked.
And you're giving me a great push.
The deal with it is, we try to give each other hope and not hope that I live.
Hope that you'll do well after I pass.
Hope that people will support her.
Hope that she meets somebody in life since she married.
He has everything planned.
I'm working on it.
She said it was her call.
She wants to walk out behind the casket along.
I guess that's the way to do it because when we were married, you know how your brother
takes it down to father takes it down.
She said, well, I don't know which of my brothers to walk in with.
I don't want to offend anybody else because I got a solution.
I said, you walk in with me, you walk out with me.
And the other day, I said, who's going to walk down the highway, you're behind the casket?
You know, the supporter.
And she said, nobody.
I walked in with you alone.
I walked out with you alone.
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 there'll be as much as it could be for eternity.
I always said the only thing I have to give you is a poor gift to next myself.
And I always gave it.
And if there's a way to come back and give it, I'll do that too.
You have to bow in time, say, let it in.
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.
I could write all of that on about her.
She lights up the room in the morning when she tells me to put both hands on the shoulders
so she can support me.
She lights up my life when she says to me at night, wouldn't it like a little ice cream?
Or would you please drink more water?
I mean, it's all in perfect romantic things to say, but they stir my heart.
In my mind and my heart, there has never been.
So it's not now and never will be another any.
That ended up being Danny and Annie's final story core interview.
We recorded it on a Thursday, broadcast it the next Friday, and Danny died that afternoon.
Just then, one of the most common questions we get here at StoryCore is whatever happened
to Annie.
Well, we'll let her tell you.
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 if the Danny died, I had received 1,300 letters of condolences.
I mean, I got letters as far away as Beijing, China, 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 StoryCore.
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 and 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 20 years, I will be telling my grandchildren about the stories of an amazing couple that
I never met.
But felt as if I knew all my life.
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.
Letters for Annie like these continue to come in over the years.
They were actually mostly emails.
And Annie didn't have an email address, so we print them out and then send them along
to her.
But then in August 2021, Annie Paraza died from COVID.
She was 79.
Annie said Danny would always be around because of story core.
Well, she will too.
Stay with us.
This message comes from NPR sponsor Subaru.
Join Subaru in celebrating their fifth annual National Make a Dog's Day on October 22nd.
A day to do something special for all dogs.
This day, combined with the Subaru Love Pets Initiative, has helped many shelter animals
find loving homes, including hard-to-adopt underdogs.
One more at Subaru.com slash Make a Dog's Day.
Welcome back.
In the second half of this episode, we're going to trace one remarkable kid's journey into
adulthood.
Alright, my name is Joshua Letman.
I'm 12 years old.
We're in Grand Central Terminal and I'm here with Mommy.
Josh and his mom, Sarah Dara Letman, first recorded with story core in 2006.
Josh was an eighth 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.
From a scale of 1 to 10, do you think your life would be different without animals?
I think it would be an 8 without animals because they add so much pleasure to life.
How else do you think your life would be different without them?
I could do without things like cockroaches and snakes.
Well, I'm okay with snakes as long as they're not venomous or constricted or anything.
I'm not a big snake person.
But cockroaches are just the insect we love to hate.
Yeah, it really is.
Have you ever felt like life is hopeless?
When I was a teenager, I was very depressed and I think that can be quite common with teenagers
who think a lot, you know, and are perceptive.
Am I like that?
You were very much like that.
Do you have any mortal enemies?
I would say my worst enemy is sometimes myself, but I don't think I have any mortal enemies.
Have you ever lied to me?
Hmm.
I probably have, but I try not to lie to you.
Even though sometimes the questions you ask make me uncomfortable.
Like when we go on our walks, some of the questions are my ass.
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.
Have you ever thought you couldn't cope with having a child?
I remember when you were a baby, you had really bad colleagues, so you would just cry and
cry.
It's when you get this stomach ache and all you do is scream for like four hours and a half.
Even out of the name, it does.
You were pretty loud, but Amy's was more high pitched.
I think it feels like everyone seems to like Amy more like she's like the perfect little
angel.
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 more difficult, but the people who take
the time to get to know you love you so much.
Like Ben or Eric or Carlos.
Yeah.
And like I have better quality friends, but less quantity.
I wouldn't judge the quality, but I think I mean, first day is like Amy loved Claudia,
then she hated Claudia.
She loved people.
You know what part of that?
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.
Did I turn that to be the son you wanted when I was born?
Did I meet your expectations?
You've exceeded my expectation, sweetie, because you know, sure you have these fantasies
of what your child's going to be like, but you have made me grow so much as a parent.
Because you think...
I was only made you a parent.
You were the one who made me a parent.
That's a good point.
Also, because you think differently from, you know, what they tell you in the parenting
books, 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.
That act when Amy was born.
And that helped with Amy was born, but you were just so incredibly special to me.
And I'm so lucky to have you as my son.
Okay, so those questions, right?
And there's more that didn't make it into the cut from the fall interview.
But they're too good to keep to ourselves.
So here you go.
You think the US is becoming a mess of a country.
It seems today that young people have a session with like swearing and sex.
The next question, do you think I'm on health feeders?
Is there anyone who you wish was dead?
Anyone at all?
How does getting married feel?
I don't know, that question is too bad.
I'll skip it.
There's no question that's stupid.
But it's just a ridiculous question.
I'll forget about it.
Just like with Danny and Annie, letters for Josh and Sarah poured in.
A few months after their story ran, we asked Sarah to reflect on what that was like.
We're driving to school in the morning, which was usually when we would listen to a story
coron, 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.
Five years after that first conversation, Josh and Sarah sat down again for StoryCore.
Josh had just started college.
He was depressed.
And Sarah was worried.
Does it bother you to think of home?
No, I miss it.
I miss the dogs and everything.
You miss the dogs?
And you.
So how do you react to like I failed?
Failed your classes or failed my classes failed college?
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 announced to me that you failed, then I'd be upset because I
know how much potential you have.
Is there anything you want to tell me?
What do you mean?
I was like a hypothetical question.
I was like a hypothetical question.
Okay.
All right.
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.
Well, Josh, you just graduated from college, Muzzle Tuff.
Thank you.
I mean, you certainly did really well.
You graduated with honors?
Yeah, but not great honors.
Josh, it's been an interesting road.
I found out about it from the beginning before I wasn't ready.
I know.
I pressured you to go and ended up being a disaster.
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.
Yeah, do you remember that?
You said no, but I said, I'm coming to get you tomorrow.
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.
I remember.
Yeah.
I had spent my life looking after you.
But for the first time, you had to look after me.
I'm sure Amy would have done this thing.
I'm sure she would, but she wasn't there.
You were.
You were a rock.
It's hard to find a silver lining in losing my mother.
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?
You said a lot of things.
My bar mitzvah.
What are you thinking of?
I quoted Shakespeare to you.
Above all to the I know himself be true.
Well, sorry, you know, I said it to you then.
And I want to say it to you now is you're about to enter the world because you've got an
amazing brain and just go out there and use it to do good things.
And I know you will.
Thank you.
I love you.
Avita.
Josh Litman 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.
Viva is now a successful young adult novelist.
She just wrapped up her 20th book.
And this fall, Josh started a graduate program in library science in hopes to someday work
at the Library of Congress where all his story core interviews are housed.
So far we've brought you voices from New York City where story core started.
Last time, story core goes national.
We're in Sarah's sort of Florida.
We are in Waco.
I live in Tucson, Arizona and I'm sitting here with my mom.
I'm sitting downtown Charleston, West Virginia.
I'm in this story core little air stream trader thing.
This episode was produced by Judd S.D. Kendall with Max Young Rice.
Our technical director is Jared Floyd.
Art for this episode was created by Liz McCarty, special thanks to Sarah Kramer, Katie Simon,
Nick Gilman and Emily Jansen.
Head over to storycore.org to find out how to record your own story core conversation.
You can go to one of our story booths, use our app or record remotely.
I'm Michael Garoflo.
And I'm Jasmine Morris.
We'll be back next week.
Thanks for listening.
Support for this podcast comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation
funded by the American people.
