Leticia Wiggins

Steve Henry was finishing out the 9th grade when his family decided to move from sunny California back to Ohio. Despite the move, he wasn’t going to let over 2,000 miles keep him from his friends out west.

For StoryCorps COLUMBUS, Steve sat down with his daughter Katie to talk about his adventures on the road and what made him stay in Columbus.

After years serving as a priest in the Catholic Church, Mike Tynan decided he wanted instead to get married and start a family of his own. But Catholic priests aren't allowed to do either, so he chose to leave the church instead.

Sahra Abdullahi and Ahmed Abukar were born in Somalia and moved to the United States when they were young. Both had a hard time fitting in and navigating American culture.

But while Abukar came with his parents, Abdullahi moved with her aunt, leaving behind her parents and six of her seven siblings. She faced many hardships in her new home and eventually in foster care.

Kadi McDonald and Morgan Dominique’s friendship developed from a common loss: Both grappled with the deaths of their fathers, learning how to grieve while also remembering their lives. 

They sat down in the StoryCorps booth in Columbus to reflect on how their fathers’ eccentricities and imperfections leave them with the most lasting memories and joy - especially one memory of a surprising Disney character Dominique discovered on her father’s foot.

Jhuma Nath Achayra had never heard the word “refugee” until he and his family were forced from their homeland in Bhutan. They found themselves part of the Bhutanese refugee crisis, during which over 100,000 people were expelled from the country in the early '90s. 

As part of StoryCorps COLUMBUS, Achayra recalled his journey from Bhutan to the United States—what it meant to lose one home, and gain a second chance to find another.

In the middle of her sophomore year, 20-year-old Ashton Sullivan knew she was done with college for good.

“I pulled the plug,” Sullivan says. “I dropped out of school.”

Even though Brian and Lachandra Baker married, as they say, "later in life," their marriage so far has been replete with its share of joys and challenges.

As part of StoryCorps COLUMBUS, the couple visited the StoryCorps booth and reminisced on 10 years of marriage: the ups, the downs, and what they’ve learned from each other along the way.

Some students like academic work and thrive in high school. For others, it’s a real drag.

One of those people is Mac Connor. When the 18-year-old talks about it, he does so in a short, matter-of-fact way.

Preserving African American history has many challenges. That's why many saw it as a victory when two buildings from Poindexter Village were saved from demolition. The two buildings on Columbus’s Near East Side are being preserved as a museum exploring one of the nation’s first public housing programs and the tight-knit community it created.

Sierra Roberts knew the jingles and taglines about insurance. It’s that thing you pay for now in case something goes wrong later. It’s those commercials constantly clamoring for our attention.

The landmark 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision on "Obergefell v. Hodges" legalized same-sex marriage. In the case, Cincinnati real estate broker Jim Obergefell sued the state of Ohio for refusing to recognize his marriage to his husband John Arthur on Arthur’s death certificate after he died from ALS.

A 45-minute bus ride to a different city gave 17-year-old Billan Gurreh plenty of time to wonder if she was making the right choice. She was nervous to start the year off at a new school.

Chris Dible, 17, walks past a giant red and black tractor. It’s the tractor Dible helped his dad bargain for when he was 13. Standing here, he can’t help but think about his family.

Friends and colleagues Elena Foulis and Yolanda Zepeda find joy in sharing traditional Latin American recipes with others. In this conversation for StoryCorps COLUMBUS, they talk about their favorite foods, and how they’ve introduced their spouses to different dishes, including lesser known delicacies like "menudo," a Mexican tripe soup.

Ernie Hartong enlisted in the army during the Vietnam War. Today, he volunteers at Columbus’s National Veteran’s Memorial and Museum.

Ernie sat down with his daughter Erin Sogal to reflect on his service, how soldiers stayed in touch with loved ones at home, and how he works to communicate his experience to young people.