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StoryCorps In Kansas City — A Mother Confronts Her Doubts About Her Father’s Final Years At Home

Diane Botwin and her son, Solomon Alpert discussed what it was like to have Diane's father move into their home at the StoryCorps MobileBooth.
StoryCorps
Diane Botwin and her son, Solomon Alpert discussed what it was like to have Diane's father move into their home at the StoryCorps MobileBooth.

StoryCorps' MobileBooth is in Kansas City until September to collect the stories and memories of residents. This is one in a series of stories KCUR has chosen to highlight.

Facing the end of life often brings hard choices. Diane Botwin decided to have her father, Dr. A. E. Botwin, move in with her family 20 years ago when his health began to fade.

"I'm not sure I ever thought I had any other choice. I felt pretty solitary in many ways," Diane told her son Solomon Alpert. "A few friends in particular said, 'You're such a saint to put up with this.'"

Solomon said that, while there were bad moments, he cherished the opportunity to help his grandfather pass with dignity.

"It felt good to give him the opportunity to die in a way where he wasn't extracted from his home or family," Solomon said. "I remember I held his hand for ... a long time."

"I almost couldn't watch it," Diane added. 

After seven years, Dr. Botwin passed away. Diane and Solomon recorded their experiences at the StoryCorps MobileBooth in August.

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.

Cody Newill was born and raised in Independence, Missouri, and attended the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Cody won a Regional Edward R. Murrow award for his work curating kcur.org in 2017. But if you ask him, his true accomplishments lie in Twitter memes and using the term "Devil's lettuce" in a story.
Matthew has been involved in media since 2003. While hosting a show on his college radio station, he quickly realized the influence, intimacy and joys of radio. After graduating from Kenyon College he had a brief stint as a short-order cook in exotic Gambier, Ohio. He then joined Murray Street Productions as the marketing manager. At Murray Street he also conducted interviews, produced podcasts, wrote scripts for Jazz at Lincoln Center Radio, and made the office computers hum. In addition to working at Murray Street, Matthew has done freelance radio production and his work has been featured on Chicago Public Radio’s local news program Eight Forty-Eight. He has also worked as a marketing assistant at WBGO in Newark, NJ, where he helped to grow audience through placing advertisements, managing the station social media, improving the website, building email campaigns and doing in person promotion at jazz events throughout New York and New Jersey. Matthew has won several awards for radio production including a Gold and Silver from the Kansas City Press Club in 2017. You can find Matthew bicycling around the city and the globe.