In 1994, our cousin, Lara, interviewed our grandfather for a school project. He took his time answering her questions, telling her all his stories, including the one about how he met our grandmother. That story has always been, and always will be, one of our favorites. The romance of it, the way the sight of her altered his life in an instant, the way their love never changed over the years–it reminds us that sometimes, love really is like fireworks.

Lara saved the tape recording she made all those years ago, and we’re lucky to be able to listen to our Daddy Ben tell his stories in his own words, his own voice. When we decided we wanted to tell the story of how our grandparents met, we realized it was best to let him do the talking. What follows is a lightly edited transcript from Lara’s interview. Thank you, Lara, for the gift of being able to listen to him share this story, and for the opportunity to share it with others. It’s a story about fireworks, the kind we ought to believe in no matter what, the kind that lights up the dark.

Limited copies are available here