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Stories of Love & Marriage

Bob and Barbara Krutzel in 2001.
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Bob and Barbara Krutzel in 2001.
The 1976 Krutzel wedding.
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The 1976 Krutzel wedding.
Husband and wife Nino Calderon and Shannon Bruan.
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Husband and wife Nino Calderon and Shannon Bruan.

As part of the NPR feature Lost & Found Sound, a team of independent producers asked listeners to contribute stories and audio artifacts commemorating the life and history of the World Trade Center. Hundreds of calls poured in to the Sonic Memorial Project phone line. The project is part of the Lost and Found Sound series.

Some of the most surprising messages were the many tales of romance and marriage that took place 1,377 feet above sea level.

The 1976 Krutzel wedding

Bob and Barbara Krutzel called to tell about their 1976 wedding at Windows on the World, on the 107th floor. They brought with them a little hand-held tape recorder and still have a cassette of their wedding vows, their Windows on the World invitation, menus and photographs.

That led Sonic Memorial producers to think about the thousands of others married at Windows on the World and on the Observation Deck of the World Trade Center over the years.

Another caller told about the World Trade Center Valentine's Day Wedding Marathon promotion and essay contests. For several years during the '90s, on Feb. 14, the contest winners -- 55 couples or 110 people, to equal the 110 floors of the Trade Center -- were selected to be part of a wedding marathon atop the towers.

Nino Calderon and Shannon Bruan

Stories of interfaith marriages, interracial marriages, priests, rabbis, caterers -- a world of stories about love, family and the Twin Towers is contained in these recorded rituals, and now collected in the Sonic Memorial.

On Valentine's Day, All Things Considered shares these stories.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.