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Thomas Morris was a U.S. Postal Service worker for 28 years. He was working in Washington D.C. when anthrax laced letters targeting senators and major media outlets appeared in the mail. He was one of two postal workers who died in October 2001 as a result of these biochemical attacks. His widow, Mary Morris, came to StoryCorps to remember their life together–starting with the day they met at a family funeral.
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Piece Description
Thomas Morris was a U.S. Postal Service worker for 28 years. He was working in Washington D.C. when anthrax laced letters targeting senators and major media outlets appeared in the mail. He was one of two postal workers who died in October 2001 as a result of these biochemical attacks. His widow, Mary Morris, came to StoryCorps to remember their life together–starting with the day they met at a family funeral.
Broadcast History
NPR Morning Edition 10/7/11
Transcript
Mary Morris (MM): He stayed longer than he needed to look after his mother. And you know if a man treats his mother right, he's gonna treat his wife right. So we were married within 90 days. Thomas worked more than 20 years at the Brentwood Post Office in Washington D.C. When he would get off work, he would get home in the early morning and we would go out to eat breakfast at 2, 3, 4 o'clock in the morning.
I remember at some point he said he wasn't feeling well. We went to the doctor and the doctor said it sounded like flu symptoms. And one morning, Thomas woke me up and said that something was really wrong. So he placed the call to 9-1-1 and they took him to the hospital. I expected him to come back home, but that wasn't to be the case. After he passed, I was living by myself again and Thomas's voice was on our answering machine.
I don't know how, but I erased it, and I thought, I...
Read the full transcript
Intro and Outro
INTRO:Time now for StoryCorps. It was 10 years ago that the anthrax attacks that came after 9/11 claimed the lives of two U.S. postal workers.
Today, memories of one of them: Thomas Morris died within a week of being exposed to anthrax.
His widow, Mary, came to StoryCorps and spoke of how she first took notice of her future husband at a family funeral.
OUTRO:That's Mary Morris, the widow of Thomas Morris at StoryCorps in Beach Park, Illinois. Her interview will be archived at the American Folk Life Center at the Library of Congress. You can get the Podcast at npr.org.
Musical Works
| Title | Artist | Album | Label | Year | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fljótavík | Sigur Rós | Með suð i eyrum við spilum endalaust. | XL Recordings | 2008 | 00:27 |
Additional Credits
NPR, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Principal Financial Group
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