StoryCorps' MobileBooth came to Kansas City to collect the stories and memories of residents. This is one in a series of stories KCUR has chosen to highlight.
When Deany and Corbin Goode got a chance to sit down at the StoryCorps Mobile Tour in Kansas City, Corbin got down to business with his questions — and some of them were tough.
"What were your parents like?" the 10-year-old asked.
Deany doesn't know much about her father, but she remembers going to punk rock shows with her mother.
"My mom was a teenager when she had me," Deany said. "I didn't have a sitter very often, she usually took me to the party with her. I guess I felt bounced around a lot."
"What kind of a student were you?" Corbin asked.
Deany admitted she was an average student, but not because she couldn't do the school work.
"Mostly because I was bored, not because I didn't know the information or couldn't pass the tests," Deany said.
"How would your classmates remember you?" Corbin asked.
"They seemed to remember that I didn't care what anybody else thought," Deany said with a laugh. "I was myself and I always felt like an outsider. I didn't realize they admired that about me and wished they could do that."
But Deany had questions of her own for Corbin.
"What do you want to be when you grow up?"
Corbin immediately jumped to science, inspired by developments in genetic editing and CRISPR-Cas9.
"[I probably want to study] diseases ... things like Black Plague and cancer," Corbin said. "I also want to mess around with genetic editing of mosquitos."
As their conversation wound down, Deany asked what Corbin's perfect day would be.
"Probably rainbow sorbet from Topsy's while drinking ... water," Corbin said. "And just sitting on a hill with my friends."
Matthew Long-Middleton is a community producer for KCUR 89.3. Follow him on Twitter @MLMIndustries.
Cody Newill is an audience development specialist for KCUR 89.3. Follow him on Twitter @CodyNewill.
Copyright 2021 KCUR 89.3. To see more, visit KCUR 89.3. 9(MDA3OTgyNDI4MDEzMTM0MjQzMTZlNDI0Mg004))
