幸福总是来之不易的

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Welcome to this episode of the Storycorps Podcast. We are going to hear from Brad Guidi and his wife, Willa Woodson Guidi. They met in 1970 at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. He is from an Italian-American family; she is African-American. And recently, they talked with their daughter, Tasha, about how their courtship(求爱期，追求期) was complicated.

How did you guys meet?

We were introduced by a mutual friend, Jackie McLean.

She was saying, oh, there's this really fine white boy I want you to meet. I said, Oh, please, Jackie, stop.

You know, when I went to Bradley, my new two African-Americans in my life, and that was Hank Aaron and Willie Mays, so it’s different.

When did you think it’s time to tell your parents?

Well, I had my mom, and we are really close, I called her right away when I met him. But I didn’t mention anything about race. I just said about I met somebody, so I just left that to that.

As far as my family’s reaction, I guess, probably, at the best it was considered a death in the family.

They wanted me to stop seeing Daddy, and I think at that point they had, had disowned(否认有关系，断绝关系) you.

Pretty much.

My mother's reaction was like, 'wow, do you think we're excited about it? Haha, and then my dad was like, Wow, they're gonna do what they want to do — and I gotta go to work.

The coolest people in our whole family were Nona and Aunt Ziya, because they had experienced racial discrimination as Italians. They could only live on the west end of Town. To them, it really wasn't as big a deal as it was to the next generation that was born in the United States and had grown up and not experienced that discrimination that they had.

Yeah. But I must say, once I became pregnant, Brad's mom just stepped up to the plate. You were the first grandchild. And once you were born, that’s when everything turned around.

You know, seeing a child or seeing a grandchild, they see themselves. This is just, not Willa and I are having a relationship, they are part of you, and you are part of them. So now they understand that this is blood. You know, this is family.

Brad Guidi and his wife Willa Woodson Guidi, with their daughter Tasha Guth, in Peoria, Illinois. 

Major support for Storycorp is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Our podcasts are supported by the Fetzer Institute as part of its campaign "For Love and Forgiveness".

Learn more, at LoveandForgive.org. All Storycorps interviews are housed at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.

And you can listen for Storycor on the radio, Fridays on NPR's mornings edition.

This is Katie Simon for the Storycorp's Podcast. Thanks for listening.