FARAI CHIDEYA, host:
Across the country, African-Americans are speaking about their lives at the StoryCorps Griot recording booth. The project is recording interviews between friends and family, and each week we bring you one of these conversations, like this one between Donald Taylor and his son Cheo.
A StoryCorps in Oakland, Cheo asked about how his parents met. It was 1958 and Donald was in the Air Force. His future wife Doris was a secretary at Fort Mason military base in San Francisco.
Mr. DONALD TAYLOR (Retired Air Force): One day, one of the guys that I worked with, he says, Don, he says, you need to go up to base headquarters, there's a beautiful woman up there. You should check her out. And so, I marched up the hill and walked into the office, and I saw your mother taking shorthand, and I just stood there and watched her. And after about five minutes, I walked up to her and introduced myself. And about nine months later, we were married.
Mr. CHEO TAYLOR (Donald's Son): Nine months?
Mr. D. TAYLOR: Yeah, another 10 months.
Mr. C. TAYLOR: Wow. So what was it? I mean, she put the spell on you? She did something?
Mr. D. TAYLOR: Oh, absolutely. I found myself downtown, looking in jewelry stores, and I never knew how I got there for a wedding ring.
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Mr. D. TAYLOR: She absolutely knocked me out. I mean, I was captivated.
Mr. C. TAYLOR: It's a love story that you always had is definitely unique, you know? You were married for a number of years, got divorced.
Mr. D. TAYLOR: That's right.
Mr. D. TAYLOR: And then found yourself in love again and remarried.
Mr. D. TAYLOR: That's right. I was doing fairly well. I was a manager for the telephone company. I was making pretty good money. But at the same time, I found myself undergoing a tremendous amount of inner pain and turmoil, which resulted in breaking and running with my buddies and stuff like that, until finally, your mom got tired of it after about 12 years of marriage and we split.
And after we split, I really ran wild for about seven years, and by that time, I knew that I had to get my life back in order. And the woman that I always loved, never stopped loving was your mom, and we started dating again. And then, a couple of years later, we were married again. So we've been back together now 30 years.
Mr. C. TAYLOR: You know, I'm very proud of you because I know a lot of people who, you know, may have left their wife and left their kids, and just abandoned everybody, and then just disappeared, you know? You came back and - I know if you hadn't come back, I wouldn't be the man I am now. So I love you for that.
Mr. D. TAYLOR: Thank you. Thank you, appreciate it, Cheo. I'm equally proud of your achievements as a man.
Mr. C. TAYLOR: Thanks, dad. I appreciate it, you know? And I'm just glad we got a chance to talk and put this stuff down.
Mr. D. TAYLOR: Right.
Mr. C. TAYLOR: You know, for posterity.
Mr. D. TAYLOR: Thank you, Cheo. Love you.
Mr. C. TAYLOR: Love you too.
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CHIDEYA: Cheo Taylor with his father Donald in Oakland. The StoryCorps Griot booth is currently in Memphis. Next stop, it's Harlem, New York.
All the Griot Initiative recordings are archived at the Library of Congress. A copy of each interview will also go to the National Museum of African-American History and Culture, in Washington D.C.
Now, you can read more stories like this one in the first ever StoryCorps book, "Listening is an Act of Love." Hear more at nprnewsandnotes.org.
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CHIDEYA: That's our show for today, and thank you for sharing your time with us. To listen to the show or subscribe to our podcast, visit our Web site, nprnewsandnotes.org, no spaces, just nprnewsandnotes.org. To join the conversation or sign up for our newsletter, visit our blog at nprnewsandviews.org.
NEWS & NOTES is created NPR News and the African-American Public Radio Consortium. Tomorrow, black actors bring the Bible to life.
I'm Farai Chideya. This is NEWS & NOTES.
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