Our Library

Don is the first person that I have ever interviewed. He is 70 years old, born in Ohio, and his family moved to New Jersey when he was nine. Don was born with cerebral palsy and has spent a lifetime battling the disease and its effects. Despite his condition, he has managed to live an independent, meaningful life. He went to college, worked for years at the Marine Corps bases in Barstow and Camp P...

Sharon is 84 years old. Born to a single mother, she grew up in Southern California. Before she entered first grade, she nearly lost her mother to suicide. Sharon made her mother promise never to attempt it again. They continued to live together and support each other until her mother passed away in 1981. Sharon became the first person in her family to attend college. After graduation, she spent 4...

Victor is 78 years old. He grew up in San Bernardino, California. At nineteen, while stationed in Memphis, Tennessee as a Marine recruit, he met June, the love of his life. June, then twenty-two, was visiting from England. They met by chance when she accidentally took the elevator down to the wrong floor. They danced, talked, and toured Elvis’s home together. Less than twenty-four hours after they...

Nancy is 88 years old, and her life has taken her through Alabama, Hawaii, and California. When John, whom she had known for only 6 weeks, proposed to her in a restaurant, she was so shocked that she forgot to say “yes.” Their married life was a happy one. They adopted two sons, who later became the source of deep anguish—one had drug issues, the other had a drinking problem. Nancy outlived her be...

Dave is 80 years old. He spent the majority of his career in the U.S. Army, rising through the ranks from Corporal to Chief Warrant Officer 5. He was stationed in Europe—primarily in Germany and the Netherlands—for over a decade. Though he acknowledged having made mistakes throughout his life, he said that looking back, he would not change a thing. The next episode will air on January 4th, 2026.

Frank is 79 years old. His life has been anything but boring. As a boy, he twice tricked his younger brother into riding a bicycle off the roof of their garage. Years later, while serving in the Army in Vietnam, his jeep was blown up by a mine, leaving one side of his face badly smashed. After the war, Frank spent two decades in Germany, a country he loves deeply. He married five times. And it is...

Eileen was born in China during World War II to an Irish father and an American mother. The year of her birth, her parents helped rescue several U.S. pilots following the mission known as Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo . She spent her early childhood in China until kindergarten. Growing up, she endured a difficult upbringing. She took on a career she didn’t initially enjoy. Her first marriage was a pai...

Mark left Georgia Tech after three years and joined the army. While stationed in Germany, he spent his weekdays typing up cigarette ration cards and his weekends exploring London, Paris, and other European cities. After leaving the service and returning to the United States, he completed his degree at Tulane University. He moved frequently, changing both jobs and cities, but always remained in the...

This is the introduction to Our Library . My name is Ruilin Zhu. I am a high school student from California, and the producer and host of this podcast. In this first episode, I share the curiosity and experiences that inspired me to start a storytelling podcast exploring the extraordinary stories nestled within ordinary lives. My vision for Our Library is to create a collection of voices and memor...