Jose Rodriguez always had trouble learning, especially reading and writing. In 2003, when he was 13, Jose joined the New Jersey Special Olympics — Olympic games for people with intellectual disabilities.

At StoryCorps, Jose told his former coach, Charles Zelinsky, what his life was like before he found the games.

Recorded in Trenton, NJ.

Isabel Sobozinsky-Wall with her husband, Scott Wall, met in New York City 20 years ago.

Isabel had traveled from her home in San Francisco to celebrate New Year’s Eve in the Big Apple and that’s where she met her future husband Scott.

Recorded in San Francisco, where they now live.

Lourdes Villanueva tells her son Roger about growing up in a family of migrant workers.

Recorded in Tampa, Fl.

Seniesa, 17, is an amateur boxing champion. Her father is a former gang member who gave up that life to become her boxing coach. Here, they talk about how she got her start in the ring when she was 8 years old.

Linda Hernandez grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska during the 1960s.

Her father worked for the railroad, and her family was one of the few Latino families in town.

At StoryCorps, Linda recalled how that made school-life difficult.

Today, on the National Day of Honor — honoring those who served in Iraq on the 10th anniversary of U.S. occupation — the story of a mother and daughter who served together.

Sergeant Marilyn Gonzalez and her daughter, Specialist Jessica Pedraza, were both in the Massachusetts Army National Guard, and both in the same company, but they had different jobs.

In 2010, Marilyn was ordered to deploy to Iraq, but Jessica was not.

So, Jessica decided to put college on hold and change her job in the military, so that she would be sent to war with her mom.

Both are still active in the Massachusetts Army National Guard.

They recorded their conversation in Rockland, Massachusetts as part of the StoryCorps Military Voices Initiative.

Like all StoryCorps interviews, theirs will be archived at the Library of Congress.

Hilda Chacon sat down with her husband Pedro Moran-Palma, in New York City, to tell the story of how they met.

Twenty years ago, Hilda was visiting the U.S. from her native Costa Rica, and Pedro spotted her at a party…

Recorded by Bishop Ricardo Ramirez in Mesilla, NM.

His grandmother’s funeral was the first he performed as a bishop. The story begins in 1981 in San Antonio, TX.

But when an e-mail meant for Rachel accidentally went to Ruben, it wasn’t long before an ordinary mistake began to look like an extraordinary stroke of luck.

C.J. Maestas has been training as a gymnast since he was a toddler, and his grandfathers, Frank Maestas and Frank Barela, have been at his side since the beginning.

They watched him make the U.S. men’s national gymnastics team in 2007 and supported him when he almost made the 2012 U.S. men’s Olympics team in July 2012.

The three sat down together at StoryCorps to talk about C.J.’s gymnastics career and the impact it has had on the whole family.

C.J. plans to keep competing and hopes to make the U.S. men’s Olympics team in 2016.

Recorded in Albuquerque, NM.