StoryCorps Chicago: ‘We’ve Always Felt Your Love As A Mother’

StoryCorps Chicago Lietzau
John Lietzau joined his daughter Kristen Holland in the StoryCorps booth at the Chicago Cultural Center where she talked to his wife, Beverly Lietzau. Photo courtesy of StoryCorps
StoryCorps Chicago Lietzau
John Lietzau joined his daughter Kristen Holland in the StoryCorps booth at the Chicago Cultural Center where she talked to his wife, Beverly Lietzau. Photo courtesy of StoryCorps

StoryCorps Chicago: ‘We’ve Always Felt Your Love As A Mother’

WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information. Sign up for our newsletters to stay up to date on the stories that matter.

Kristen Holland and her twin sister were teenagers when their mom died. It was an enormous loss, one they struggled with for years. 

Then their father married a woman named Beverly Lietzau, who was just 11 years older than the twins were. 

Things got complicated. 

Now Holland is grown up, and she brought her step-mother to the StoryCorps booth in the Chicago Cultural Center. Beverly Lietzau says that things actually started off pretty easy. There was a sort of honeymoon period.

StoryCorps’ mission is to provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to share, record and preserve their stories. These excerpts, edited by WBEZ, present some of our favorites from the current visit, as well as from previous trips.