Blog Post 5- Sarah

For this assignment I decided to listen to Three’s Company by StoryCorps. In this podcast the listener is introduced to Neil and Sofia. The pair has an interesting relationship. They married in 1996 but got a divorce years later. In an unfortunate turn of events, Sofia’s roof collapsed leaving her home unlivable. This is when she reached out to Neil to see if she could stay with him for a couple of weeks. A couple of weeks he thought. As the story goes, COVID-19 takes over the world and Sofia ends up staying with Neil and his mother for 2 years. 

The pair describes how in that time they were dependent on each other for survival, not physically, but emotionally. They would watch the news at night and share a comforting moment when things were grim. This is what was so meaningful to me about this StoryCorps episode. During peak COVID there was great uncertainty about what each day would bring. The news was scary, it felt like every night at 5 there was something worse that was shared. It’s very heartwarming to know that despite the fact that COVID had extreme implications, it could also help 2 people see each other in a more compassionate way. Neil and Sofia described how they are complete opposites. This was problematic in their marriage, but not in their newfound friendship. Sofia says that she now sees him and will always see him as family, not as a husband. 

One remark that stuck with me from this piece was how Sofia described her extended stay, saying there were bad experiences but also love. She describes this as life and notes Neil’s kindness. I think we can learn from their story, not only to spread kindness, but also to not be afraid to ask for help. I think the medium fits the message in this piece because hearing it from Sofia and Neil rather than in a blog post form brings their raw emotions to life. You can hear their friendly charisma and I think that this is an important element to their story.