July 16, 2004

Someone to Watch Over Me

Letting someone else take care of you can change everything. Three stories of couples in which one partner is trying to take care of the other, sometimes with more resistance, sometimes with less.

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Transcript

Prologue

Susie and John Drury moved to their farm just two years ago. But when John got sick for awhile, people who were no more than friendly acquaintances started helping out in ways that completely surprised them. Host Ira Glass goes to Tennessee to hear their story. (7 minutes)

By

Ira Glass

Act One

Doctoring The Doctor

Jo Giese's husband, a doctor named Douglas Forde, had spent his life caring for other people. But then he had some strokes and developed a kind of dementia. He didn't understand why caregivers were living in his home, helping his wife. Over the course of eight months, his wife documented his decline, and the dramas that happened with the people who came to live with them. Jo Giese usually reports for Marketplace. (28 minutes)

By

Jo Giese

Song:

“Someone to Watch Over Me” by Rickie Lee Jones

Act Two

The Over-protective Kind

Veronica Chater's mother wants to go to a resort in Mexico with a friend. Her father, a former cop with an extravagant sense of security, prepares as if she's headed for a war zone. Among his questions for the Mexican authorities: Exactly how long a knife blade might one be able to carry across the border? (12 minutes)

By

Veronica Chater

Song:

“Someone to Watch Over Me” by Sting

Act Three

Are You A Man Or A Mouse?

Aimee Bender reads her story "The Rememberer," about a woman whose lover is undergoing reverse evolution. One day he's a man, the next, a salamander. The story is in her her book The Girl in the Flammable Skirt. (8 minutes)

In the 75-year history of the song "Someone to Watch Over Me," there's only been one hard rock cover ... and you can download it here. The song was recorded right here at Chicago Public Radio by the band American Draft. Check out the music they write themselves at their website.

By

Aimee Bender

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