To Build the Life She Wanted for Her Son, She Left Behind an Addiction
For Irene Montoya, becoming a mother in 2009 was a long held dream come true. At the time, she was years into a methamphetamine addiction and had never held a job for very long. She knew she’d have to make some big changes to her life.
Irene Montoya and Gianni Booth in her truck in Cheyenne, WY in 2021. Courtesy of Irene Montoya.
After getting clean during her pregnancy, Irene relapsed while Gianni was still a toddler. As a single parent, she struggled to make enough money for a decent place to live. At one point, Irene and Gianni found themselves sleeping in their car.
After a decade clean and sober, their lives look very different. Irene started her own company, Sunflower Trucking, and Gianni is attending a private high school. They came to StoryCorps in Cheyenne, Wyoming to talk about their family’s hard times and the turning point in their lives.
Irene Montoya with her custom-built dump truck in Cheyenne, WY on June 16, 2024. By Zanna McKay for StoryCorps.
Top Photo: Gianni Booth and Irene Montoya at their StoryCorps interview in Cheyenne, WY on June 16, 2024. By Zanna McKay for StoryCorps.
This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Originally aired August 2, 2024 on NPR’s Morning Edition.
“I Was Born In A Refugee Camp.” Two Sisters Reflect On Struggle And Survival
Sisters Mai Lo Lee and Beth Lo grew up in a large Hmong family on a ginseng farm in Wisconsin. But their story dates back to the American War in Vietnam.
Originally from Laos, the Lo family fled persecution after the country fell to communist forces in the mid 1970s. The new regime declared the Hmong people enemies of the state, as they’d fought alongside the U.S. against the communist government.
The Lo family in the Ban Vinai Holding Center, Thailand, in 1980. Photo courtesy of Mai Lo Lee.
The Lo family crossed the Mekong River, which borders Laos and Thailand, and spent years in the Ban Vinai Holding Center—a refugee camp in Thailand. In 1980, six months after Mai was born, they immigrated to the U.S. and resettled in Wisconsin, where the parents found work as ginseng farmers.
Beth and Mai Lo with their father, Sai Vue Lo, in Wausau, WI, circa 2018. Photo courtesy of Mai Lo Lee.
At StoryCorps, the sisters reflected on their family’s struggles and survival, their Hmong heritage, and how a rice steamer became a family legend.
Top Photo: Beth Lo and Mai Lo Lee at their StoryCorps interview in Appleton, WI on August 20, 2023. By Delilah Righter for StoryCorps.
This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Originally aired June 21, 2024, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
“We’re Going to Lead with Love.” A Lesbian Bishop Reflects on a Career of Service
Karen Oliveto didn’t grow up in a religious family, but as a kid she fell in love with Sunday school. She loved learning the stories from the bible, and she’d wake her mom every Sunday to take her and her siblings to church. Before long she knew she wanted to be a pastor, and gave her first sermon when she was 16.
Karen Oliveto and Robin Ridenour at the Alive Now church camp in Sierra Nevada, California, circa 1993.
Courtesy of Karen Oliveto.
But during her first year of seminary, Karen realized she was a lesbian. Despite the United Methodist Church’s view at the time—that homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teachings—she persisted. And in 2016, Karen was elected to be the first openly gay bishop of the United Methodist Church.
She came to StoryCorps with her wife, Robin Ridenour.
Robin Ridenour and Karen Oliveto at a church in Sacramento in 2016. Courtesy of Karen Oliveto.
This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Originally aired June 6, 2024 on NPR’s Morning Edition.
After Losing Everything to a Wildfire, A Couple Rebuilds
Ron and Julie Lynam had long dreamed of retiring in the Colorado mountains. As high school teachers living in a college town, the couple saved and planned for years.
Finally, after looking at dozens of properties, they bought a small home surrounded by a pristine pine forest.
Ron and Julie Lynam’s home in the aftermath of the High Park fire in 2012. Courtesy of Ron Lynam.
Just a few weeks after moving into their new home, Julie awoke one Saturday morning to a disaster; one of the biggest fires in state history was barreling towards them.
Ron Lynam by the barn he built using burned timber salvaged from their property. By Zanna McKay for StoryCorps.
Top Photo: Julie and Ron Lynam at their home near Bellvue, Colorado on September 20, 2023. By Jo Corona for StoryCorps.
This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Originally aired May 31, 2024 on NPR’s Morning Edition.
“He Was a Gentleman and a Gentle Man to Me”: A Widow Remembers Her Late Husband, a Marine Veteran
Marine Corporal Daniel MacMurray at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina in 1982. Photo courtesy Cynthia Alvarez.
Seventeen years ago, Cynthia Alvarez fell in love with Marine Corporal Daniel Mark MacMurray. She was a peace activist, and he was a proud Marine veteran and firefighter, and the two didn’t always see eye to eye. But they agreed to love each other. And they did just that, until Dan became sick and died.
Cynthia came to StoryCorps to remember him.
Cynthia Alvarez and her daughter, Isabela Alvarez, at their StoryCorps interview in Philadelphia on April 27, 2024. By Alan Jinich for StoryCorps.
This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Originally aired May 25, 2024, on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday.
A Father And Daughter Reflect On Shared Wisdom And ‘Cool Genes’
Yusuf Ali has spent his adult life working hard to be a father and a provider. Long before family life he was known as “Joe Cool,” respected by friends and colleagues for his boundless style.
Yusuf Ali, his son Noble and Attayah Ali Milton in the late 1980s. Photo courtesy of Attayah Ali Milton.
Yusuf and his family moved from town to town as he followed work selling office furniture. No matter where they lived, he was always imparting life lessons and wisdom to everyone he mentored, including his two children, Attayah and Noble.
Noble Ali, Yusuf Ali, Attayah Ali Milton and her children, November 2019. Photo courtesy of Attayah Ali Milton.
Yusuf came to StoryCorps with his daughter Attayah to record some of their memories and share a few laughs in celebration of Yusuf’s 70th birthday.
Top Photo: Attayah Ali Milton and Yusuf Ali at their StoryCorps interview in Philadelphia, PA on June 3, 2019. By Ava Ahmadbeigi for StoryCorps.
This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Originally aired May 24, 2024, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
After Years in Foster Care, Two Sisters Found Home at the Morenos
Eight-year-old Linda Garcia entered the foster care system with her infant sister, Irene Montoya, after their mother was hospitalized for tuberculosis in 1953. Linda protected her sister from a series of neglectful families over the next few years, but they were malnourished when their social worker brought them to the home of Joe and Belen Moreno.
Joe Moreno, Belen Moreno, and Irene Montoya in Yuma, Arizona in 1964. Courtesy of Irene Montoya.
An older couple, they took in the girls—who would come to call them Nino and Nina. At StoryCorps, Linda and Irene remembered the people who gave them the love and care they had been missing.
Top Photo: Linda Garcia and Irene Montoya at their StoryCorps interview in Yuma, Arizona on December 4, 2019. By Lea Zikmund for StoryCorps.
This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Originally aired May 17, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
“He’s A Rainbow Baby:” A Mother’s Lessons On Grief
Marilí Rodríguez García spent several years working as a doula in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She was called to the profession after losing her first child, Adrián José, a few days after his birth, May 14, 2009.
Marilí Rodríguez García, pregnant with her first son, Adrián José, and standing with a friend in Cayey, Puerto Rico in 2009. Photo courtesy of Marilí Rodríguez García.
Several years later, her son Emil Gustavo was born.
Marilí recently came to StoryCorps to remember that time and reflect on the ways she was able to move on.
The Figueroa Rodríguez family in Carolina, Puerto Rico in 2019. Photo courtesy of Marilí Rodríguez García.
Top Photo: Marilí Rodríguez García at her StoryCorps interview in San Juan, Puerto Rico on February 7, 2024. By Jo Corona for StoryCorps.
This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Originally aired May 10, 2024, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
A Daughter Reflects on What Philadelphia’s Chinatown Meant to Her Mother.
In the 1960’s Deborah Wei’s parent’s left China for the United States and eventually settled in the suburbs of Philadelphia. . At StoryCorps, Deborah talks with her daughter Kaia Chau about how her mother navigated making a home, and what Philadelphia’s Chinatown meant to the family.
Deborah Wei’s mother with strawberries she grew in Philadelphia in 1981. Courtesy of Deborah Wei.
Top Photo: Deborah Wei with her mother and sister in Philadelphia in 1959. Courtesy of Deborah Wei.
This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Originally aired April 19, 2024, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
“Our Car Had Landed In The Water:” A Mother And Son Remember a Frightening Accident
StoryCorps conversations aren’t scripted, and even the participants can be surprised by what comes up when they get behind the mic.
That’s what happened when Karina Borgia-Lacroix brought her 10-year-old son, Levi, to the StoryCorps Mobile Booth in Fort Myers, Florida, and he asked about her favorite memory.
Karina Borgia-Lacroix and Levi Lacroix at JetBlue Park at Fenway South during spring training in Fort Myers, FL, in March of 2016. Courtesy of Karina Borgia-Lacroix.
Top Photo: Karina Borgia-Lacroix and Levi Lacroix at their StoryCorps interview in Fort Myers, FL on March 2, 2024. By Sara Barkouli for StoryCorps.
This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Originally aired April 12, 2024, on NPR’s Morning Edition.