Listening Is an Act of Love: A Celebration of American Life from the StoryCorps Project (audio cd from NPR)

My grandma was the best talker I knew. Funny. Smart. Sensitive. Caring. Self-deprecating. Engaging. She had some great stories, and I wish I had thought to record them. The closest I have is a cassette tape my sister made of an interview she did with our grandma for a women's studies class in college. And, it's kind of marred because my other sister is screeching/singing in the background.

StoryCorps is a project from NPR. Booths have been set up mainly in big cities in order for people to interview or prompt a story from a loved one. And, that last part matters. The loved one. It makes such a difference to hear a story told to a grandson or a mother or a brother. It's so much more intimate than talking directly into a microphone--a void--or getting interviewed by a stranger. The cd is really the way to listen to StoryCorps. (Don't even bother with the accompanying book). And, it's best--as with most radio programs--to listen while driving (good advice, Mr. Ira Glass). There are about 20 stories on the cd and they're each three or four minutes long.

The best interviews in the collection are the ones where the interviewer already knows the beats and rhythms of the tales. She just likes to hear it told by the right person and with the right level of intimacy. One of my favorites is from a Korean-American woman (born in the US) who interviews her mother about how she promoted affection and love in her marriage, their household and, by extension, the rest of their family. The story is sweet, but the best part is at the end when the mother asks the daughter how she feels about having a loving, affectionate family. The daughter likes it and you can hear it in her voice that she's telling the truth. Another good interview is between a grandfather and a grown grandson. The grandson asks his grandfather about how he and his grandmother decided on adoption. It is clear from the interview that the grandfather never thought twice about adoption and that he loved his children unconditionally. The exchange between the men is loving and only after the story was over did I realize that the grandson was the biological son of the adopted child. Beautiful.

Listening to these stories brought me back to when I used to beg my grandma to tell me stories. I knew how they ended because I had heard them hundreds of times before. That didn't matter because what I was really begging for was to hear the inflections in my grandma's voice, to see her become animated, to get a glimpse of her soul. StoryCorps does that in a different sort of way. No, you do not know the people on the cd. But, you become intimate with the listener of the loved one more than you even like the story. The story sounds more tender, more intimate, because the storyteller is talking for the benefit of his or her loved one. By extension, you become the loved one. It's a very cozy feeling to be in that position--especially when your great storyteller of a grandma is no longer here.

My favorite story is about Miss Divine, a strict Sunday school teacher. I laughed out loud, and I listened to it over and over. It was so endearing and funny because of the cousins who told the story. I felt like a fellow cousin who endured the wrath of Miss Divine right along with them. I felt so connected to humanity. Listening was as intimate as talking on the telephone. I felt like no one else in the world was around, yet I was so aware of the world's beauty. What more can I say? Go out and buy the cd. Give one to a friend. Record your own stories. Whatever we do, let's just keep this going. It's too good to stop.