Friday, February 3, 2012

Danny and Annie

If you're a big NPR listener like I am, then you've probably heard the StoryCorps project recordings. And if you're just like me, you've sat in your car crying because they're so damned touching. Here is a description of their mission from the Story Corps website:

StoryCorps is an independent nonprofit whose mission is to provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories of our lives. Since 2003, StoryCorps has collected and archived more than 30,000 interviews from more than 60,000 participants. Each conversation is recorded on a free CD to share, and is preserved at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. StoryCorps is one of the largest oral history projects of its kind.

As you may know by now, I'm kind of obsessed with learning the stories of people. People that I know and complete strangers, some of which I'll never get to meet. I could listen to them for days and never grow weary. Believe me when I say that all people - no matter who we are - just want someone to listen. Taking the time to ask someone about themselves and their stories is one of the most loving gifts that you can ever give.

I couldn't help but include the following StoryCorps story in my Valentine's Day posts because it's a real tear jerker - and contains some serious food for thought.

It's an animation done by the Rauch Brothers set to the story of Danny and Annie Perasa who were married for twenty seven years until he passed away with pancreatic cancer. The way that Danny spoke of and showed his love for Annie was just beautiful. See what I mean:




Pretty sweet, huh? Yes, I've got my ugly cry going on over here!

It seems that lots of times in life, we get too caught up in the notion of the depictions of love that one would find in a bodice-ripper romance novel or in the movies. Or the flowery kind that goes on line after line in Hallmark cards even though most of us would never come up with those exact words on our own. And it's easy to feel sad when our lives don't seem to match up to all of that. But in the end, love is more about how we weather the storms together and how we work to help each other along. When Danny talked about how Annie would tell him to put his hands on her shoulders each morning - that's love, you see.



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If you're interested in sharing your own story or those of family members, neighbors or friends, go here to see when the StoryCorps booth will be in your town or how to rent equipment to record your own story for inclusion. And Nashville peeps, they're coming here in the Spring and those dates are at that link as well. To listen to more stories, go here.

Until next time,
x's and o's,
Eartha

5 comments:

DearHelenHartman said...

Sigh. What a precious story. Now I have to wash my sweater because I didn't go get a hankie.

Sara In AZ said...

Wow, just wow. That is the most touching story, just beautiful.

Thanks for the heads up on StoryCorps, I did not know about it. And I hope you are going to share your story when they get to Nash in the spring!!!

me and the other me said...

hi sweets,
if you watched danny and anna's story, i'm sure you cried. i certainly did. i want you to promise me that you and the mister will go tell your story. it's the best kind of love story. i'll never forget you telling me about how y'all met and your first date. i knew right away that you'd found your soul mate. now, where's mine hiding?

Eartha Kitsch said...

DearHelenHartman: Ha!

Sara: You're welcome. You and Mike have a great story you could share!

me and the other me: I TOTALLY cried. And thanks! Your soul mate is out there. Maybe you already know them but don't know it yet.

Tea said...

I just stumbled across your blog today, and after the first few posts i was hooked. I'm up past my bedtime (never thought i would be saying that as an adult, but i've reached the age where i need to get some sleep or i can't function the next day) reading through them. I should have grabbed the tissue box, but i didn't and now i have to change because the front of my nightgown is wet from tears rolling off my cheeks. He was such an amazing man and now i'm so sad that the world doesn't have him in it anymore. I think that everyone who has heard this story is better off, and will probably love a little more thanks to that wonderful gentleman.
Thank you so much for this post and the link, i never would have come across it otherwise.