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Preserving Our Voices: Stories of Perseverance

Preserving Our Voices: Stories of Perseverance is our National Day of Listening project inspired by the national Story Corps effort to encourage the recording of loved ones during the holidays. This is our second annual project you can see and listen to the first one here.

Below are stories from people who have faced challenges and how tough times can, in some cases, lead to moments of joy, acceptance and inspiration.

(See photos from these conversations in the slideshow above.)

Thank you Four Rivers Behavioral Health for sponsoring the program and helping those in our region persevere in the face of challenges everyday. 

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Ronnie Yates and Dianne Ray

Dianne Ray had Ronnie Yates in her homeroom class when he went to high school in Ballard County. That was more than 50 years ago, and together they look back on the racism he experienced as he was integrated into a white middle school, becoming the only African-American in his class in 1963.

Ronni_Dianne.mp3

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Credit WKMS
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WKMS
Krissy and Aaron Ramey

Krissy and Aaron Ramey

Lone Oak’s home to Krissy and Aaron Ramey and their four kids.  Krissy founded Families on the Spectrum because she learned there was little emotional support for parents of autistic kids.  Krissy and Aaron talk about raising Derek.

Krissy_Aaron.mp3

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Credit Whitney Jones / WKMS
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WKMS

Wallace Henderson and Jennifer Brown

Hopkinsville’s Wallace Henderson and Kentucky New Era Opinon Editor Jennifer Brown are lunch buddies. They met when she wrote about Wallace's odd daily habit of feeding feral cats.

Jennifer_Wallace.mp3

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Credit WKMS
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WKMS
Vickie Hayden (Left) and Jessica Paine

Jessica Paine and Vicki Hayden

Twelve years ago Jessica Paine of Murray became pregnant, but what ultrasounds revealed brought her both anxiety and resolve. She could not have foreseen the journey with this child, who transformed her life. She recounts the birth with her mom Vicki Hayden.

Jessica_Paine.mp3

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Credit WKMS
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WKMS
Dick Weaver (Left) and Chris Wooldridge

Dick Weaver and Chris Wooldridge

87 years-old Dick Weaver of Murray parachuted out of airplanes 376 times during the pacific theater of World War II and the Korean War. Weaver was drafted in 1945 and chose to join the Pathfinders, who jumped into war zones just prior to the arrival of other troops to set up communications links and to scout drop and pickup zones. Weaver’s friend Chris Wooldridge asks him about pushing through hard times.

Dick_Weaver.mp3

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Credit WKMS
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WKMS
Carrissa Johnson (Left) and Jennifer Johnson

Carissa Johnson and Jennifer Johnson

Carrissa Johnson and Jennifer Johnson aren't related, but they're friends and co-workers at Murray’s Center for accessible living. Carissa was a preemie and suffered oxygen deprivation at birth, then had spinal meningitis as an infant. She’s been in a wheelchair her whole life.  She’s considered her career, marriage, college degrees and plans for adoption just… normal. Carrissa Johnson and Jennifer Johnson aren't related, but they're friends and co-workers at Murray’s Center for accessible living. Carissa was a preemie and suffered oxygen deprivation at birth, then had spinal meningitis as an infant. She’s been in a wheelchair her whole life.  She’s considered her career, marriage, college degrees and plans for adoption just… normal. And it all started in a small Graves County town.

Carissa.mp3

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Credit WKMS
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WKMS
Karen Olson (Left) and Constance Alexander

Karen Olson and Constance Alexander

Karen Olson is a mother, cancer survivor and widow.  And most importantly she’s a runner!  She tells Constance Alexander why she’s persevered with running. Karen’s story begins with her breast cancer experience 24 years ago.

Olson_re-edit.mp3

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Credit Todd Hatton / WKMS
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WKMS

Earl Gidcumb, Gene Edwards and James Vance

The Department of Defense reports there are more than 73,000 soldiers from World War II who didn’t make it home for burial. It took 70 years for Paducah’s William Carneal to come home to be buried.. In the small Kentucky Veterans and Patriots Museum in Wickliffe three veterans discuss the perserverance involved in getting Private First Class Carneal’s remains home. Earl Gidcumb, Gene Edwards and James Vance remember with the museum’s director Sandy Hart.

KVPM_kbl_edit.mp3

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Credit Whitney Jones / WKMS
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WKMS
Bob Tessier

Bob and Kathy Tessier

Bob and Kathy Tessier own and operate a construction business and have been married for more than four decades. Together they faced their darkest days when a motorcycle accident left Bob without his left arm 11 years ago.

Tessiers.mp3

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Thanks for reading and listening to Preserving Our Voices: Stories of Perseverance, a project inspired by Story Corps’ annual National Day of Listening. We hope you’ll  take the time to sit with a friend or loved one in the coming days and record a conversation about shared memories.

A special thanks to all of our participants: Kate Lochte, Whitney Jones, Jennifer Brown, Todd Hatton and Chad Lampe.

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