Being in love often requires making sacrifices, but for Helen German, the sacrifice was a big one: Finding romance meant losing the approval of her family. Today, Helen relates the details of her life story, from surviving the air raids of World War II to sustaining a 65 year marriage, while managing to hold on to her beliefs. Helen shares her story to poet Bryan Byrdlong, who turns her lifetime of perseverance into poetry.
Versify is a production of Nashville Public Radio and The Porch, Nashville’s nonprofit literary center. Editing and production came from WPLN’s Emily Siner, with additional editing by Anita Bugg and Susannah Felts. The episode was hosted, scripted and produced by Joshua Moore. Today’s story and poem were recorded by Luke Wiget at Congregation Micah’s Violins of Hope event. Thanks to the Nashville Symphony for letting us use a recording of the violins.
The music is by Brian Crouch, Jahzzar, and Dee Yan-Key, courtesy of the Free Music Archive. Versify is distributed by PRX.
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