To Crescenciana Tan, family meant everything. After years of labor in the Philippines, she came to the U.S. to help raise her grandchildren, who called her Lola. Using StoryCorps Connect, her grandson, Kenneth, told his mother Olivia about the greatest lesson Lola taught him.

On January 28, 1986, NASA Challenger mission STS-51-L ended in tragedy when the shuttle exploded 73 seconds after takeoff. On board was physicist Ronald E. McNair, who was the second African American to enter space. But first, he was a kid with big dreams in Lake City, South Carolina.

“You know, it’s the little things that you do day in and day out that I admired for the last 8 years. I don’t think you can find a better person to be friends with.” Every week, Herman Travis loads up a heavy shopping cart full of groceries from a food bank to bring to elderly neighbors in a low-income housing complex. Over time, he’s become close with the residents, including Robert Cochran. Together they came to StoryCorps to talk about how meaningful this weekly gesture has become to them both.