Text Size:
A|
A|
A
Email
PrintLast Thanksgiving at her family gathering, 95-year-old Genevieve Januszkiewicz asked her family, "What are you guys going to do when I die?"
Her daughter responded, "What do you want us to do?"
"Love one another," Ms. Januszkiewicz replied.
The brief exchange was captured in an audio recording made by her granddaughter, Jennifer Jordan, as part of National Public Radio's StoryCorps, an oral history project.
Ms. Januszkiewicz had a stroke the next day, and died over that weekend. But those words to her family continue to ring out to them.
That is one of the most important aspects of StoryCorps, said Sacha Evans, a spokeswoman for the project.
"If we take the time to sit down and talk to each other, we leave a legacy for ourselves and for our grandchildren and great-grandchildren," she said.
AudioStoryCorps was created in 2003 with a goal of creating an oral history for Americans. The organization put a recording booth in New York City's Grand Central terminal, in which anyone can have a conversation and walk away with a broadcast quality recording. The results also are sent to the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.
There are 28,000 interviews already stored there, and StoryCorps is one of the fastest growing nonprofits in the United States, Ms. Evans said. There are mobile recording booths that travel across the country -- one was last in Pittsburgh in 2006 -- and other permanent booths in Atlanta and San Francisco.
"We think our archives tell the true American story," Ms. Evans said. "We want to chronicle American life and create a growing portrait."
In an effort to encourage conversations, StoryCorps designated yesterday as a National Day of Listening. The project provides tips to people who want to participate on its Web site, www.storycorps.org, and also has lists of questions to help facilitate good discussion.
"We want everyone to sit down and have a meaningful conversation with their loved ones."
Theresa Casciato, of Highland Park, has participated in StoryCorps interviews since 2006 -- including at the booth in Grand Central Terminal.
Yesterday, she traveled to Oil City to record an interview with a 95-year-old family friend. Ms. Casciato wanted to record stories about Anne Cangemi's large Italian family -- specifically the holiday traditions that they share. Today, she will talk to two Forest Hills brothers about their experiences in World War II.
"It's a different generation, and it's very important to preserve their memories and stories," said Ms. Casciato, who uses a microphone and her iPod to make the recordings. "It's an important part of life."
Ms. Jordan, who is a journalist for the program "Allegheny Front," on WYEP, has about five hours of recordings that she made with her grandmother.
"They're fun little stories that reveal her personality," said Ms. Jordan, 39.
In one recording, Ms. Januszkiewicz recounts the births of her six children.
For one child, Ms. Januszkiewicz went into labor on Election Day. Her husband, who was an elected official in Steubenville, Ohio, told his wife he wanted her to go vote so she could have the baby at the polling place and make the papers. She didn't go.
Besides stories, Ms. Jordan also asked her grandmother to record a few Polish songs.
"A lot of people in her church were dying," Ms. Jordan said. "Those kinds of old songs -- I knew they would be lost. I wanted to keep hearing them whenever I wanted to.
"It's nice to hear that in her own voice."
For Keith Kondrich, of Swissvale, he and his sister-in-law took a different tack with StoryCorps. He interviewed her about her mother, Alice Laffey, and the experiences they all shared as the matriarch was dying.
"It was a moving experience for the family. We wanted to pay tribute to Alice and pay tribute to her legacy."
Ms. Laffey was widowed at a young age and raised 12 children. Later, her son died as a young man.
"This was a woman who had seen tragedy in her life, but there wasn't a moment when she wasn't positive or overcome with joy," Mr. Kondrich said. "Her sister said it best, 'Alice taught us how to live, now she's teaching us how to die.' "
So, in August -- two years after Ms. Laffey died -- Mr. Kondrich and his sister-in-law went to Akron, Ohio, where the StoryCorps' mobile recording booth was set up.
They spent 40 minutes talking about Ms. Laffey -- her life and legacy.
"It wasn't staged. We were just sitting behind two microphones having a conversation," he said. "It was really powerful. It turned into an uplifting memory of her life and the lessons she taught us."
Mr. Kondrich, who works for Beginning with Books, a literacy project in Pittsburgh, has always loved StoryCorps.
"Telling stories and remembering people through stories was always an important part of our family culture," he said.
Those stories are often told at holiday gatherings, but sometimes the bustle and excitement lead to fragmented conversations, Ms. Jordan said. The idea of StoryCorps and a National Day of Listening can help generate something more meaningful, Ms. Jordan said.
"This creates the space to have a more in-depth conversation," she said. "Every day should be a day of listening."
Looking for more from the Post-Gazette? Join PG+, our members-only web site. You'll get exclusive sports content, opinion, financial information, discounts from retailers and restaurants, and more. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.
