The life of William Jacobs, 83, has rarely followed the course he first plotted. His training to become a B-26 pilot during World War II was interrupted by a car accident that left him hospitalized.
And as Jacobs tells his grandson, Seth Fleischauer, married life held plenty of surprises of its own.
As the two spoke in the StoryCorps booth in New York City's Grand Central Terminal, Fleischauer told his grandfather that the way he dealt with adversity -- such as in recent years, when Fleischauer's grandmother suffered from Alzheimer's -- was an inspiration to him.
To the child of divorced parents, Fleischauer says, his grandparents were an example of something he needed to see: dedication.
Stories from the StoryCorps oral history project can be heard every Friday on 'Morning Edition'. Recordings of participants' conversations also go to the Library of Congress.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.