A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Friday means it's time for StoryCorps. In 2010, Bob Gerold had this conversation with his 13-year-old daughter, Aimee, who was adopted from China as a baby.
AIMEE GEROLD: How'd you meet Mom?
BOB GEROLD: I can tell you the date, September 14, 1984.
A GEROLD: Back when dinosaurs roamed the land?
B GEROLD: (Laughter) Yeah, I was protecting her from the dinosaurs. And at least one day a week, I left a rose Scotch taped to her front door.
A GEROLD: And she didn't find that creepy?
B GEROLD: Creepy? No, she actually found that nice. I better tell your boyfriends not to do that.
(LAUGHTER)
A GEROLD: Well, a rose. You don't know who it's from.
B GEROLD: Oh, no. She knew who it was from.
A GEROLD: Oh, OK. Now, what made you decide you want to adopt a child?
B GEROLD: Mommy had an ectopic pregnancy, which means the pregnancy was in the tubes. After that, she couldn't get pregnant. We considered adopting, and we actually said we wanted a smart, assertive kid. Don't take this the wrong way, but we viewed intelligence over beauty.
A GEROLD: Great.
B GEROLD: Well, but no, I mean, you turned out to be both. But that's what we said. And when we got to talk to the nannies about you, they said you were a very determined little child.
A GEROLD: Huang Xi, very strong will.
B GEROLD: That's right (laughter). I want to tell you something. You have absolutely changed my life. The most interesting thing for me was the idea of the red thread. In Chinese adoptions and in the Chinese culture, the red thread means that we are, with our souls, connected to a specific person. And we got you. And I am so pleased that you're part of my life.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
A GEROLD: I'm not crying, you're crying (laughter). My name is Aimee, and this is my dad. We're following up 15 years from the last time that we recorded. Since then, I've lived so many phases of life. I have gotten my braces off, thank God. I've gone through college, and I learned to swear like a sailor (laughter).
B GEROLD: Right, and I've just gotten older. You were such a good kid. You know, you never dated a biker, you know?
(LAUGHTER)
A GEROLD: I still could.
B GEROLD: You still could.
A GEROLD: I could become the biker.
B GEROLD: Oh. You came with a spark that we could nurture but we couldn't create.
A GEROLD: Well, you taught me that it was OK to push back and really gave me an opportunity to be strong. So many people say they're self-made, but I probably would not have gotten here without you guys.
B GEROLD: What can I say? I just love you so much, honey.
A GEROLD: I love you, too.
MARTÍNEZ: Bob and Aimee Gerold. A new animation of their conversation is at storycorps.org. You can record your loved ones using the StoryCorps mobile app for The Great Thanksgiving Listen.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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