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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
It's Friday, which is when we hear from StoryCorps. And today we have the story of Joseph Bond. As a teenager, he fought in Vietnam as a Marine. Later, he started a family and worked for the city of Philadelphia for 35 years. After retiring, he felt like there was something he still needed to finish - high school. At StoryCorps, his daughter, Tramaine Crawley, remembered when he enrolled in night school at the age of 72.
TRAMAINE CRAWLEY: I remember you told me you was back in school, and I just busted out laughing because I didn't believe you until the next day when you came to the house with your laptop and your book bag.
JOSEPH BOND: It took me by surprise, too. I was the oldest person in the building. I was older than my teachers and even the maintenance people. I'm saying to myself, what the hell I'm doing here? I'm retired. I don't need this. But education is a beautiful thing. It's like a flower. You plant the seed, you give it a little water, give it the sunshine, and it grows.
CRAWLEY: To see you finally putting yourself first for once, it meant everything to me.
BOND: I knew that I had to answer to you. You was like a little voice in my head saying - you know what? - we ain't going to settle for C's. You were like a second mother. You told me that you'll always be there for me no matter what.
CRAWLEY: So I have to ask you this. When I dropped out of high school at a young age, what was your first reaction?
BOND: Want my honest opinion on that?
CRAWLEY: Yes, please, be honest.
BOND: I wanted to kick you dead in your a**.
CRAWLEY: (Laughter) And I knew you was going to say that. But, you know, in my 20s, I went back to school. And that piece of paper made me feel like I was on top of the world. I'm proud of myself.
BOND: I'm proud of you, too. I think that's why I went back.
CRAWLEY: When you graduated, how did it feel to walk across the stage?
BOND: I was just nervous. Walking up the steps, would I fall? Or how I'll react when I get the diploma in my hand.
CRAWLEY: I couldn't even get my camera together when you was coming down the aisle. My heart was pounding. I kind of lost my voice screaming your name. I'm like, and he got his cool walk going on and his sunglasses. So I'm like, I hope he can see the steps while he going up - I hope he see them while he coming down.
BOND: It's a long time coming. I look at my diploma every day. My mother, she only went as far as the 11th grade, but she wanted all her children to finish high school. On her dying bed, I promised her that I would go back, get my diploma. You know, I go to my mother's grave site, visit her from time to time. The other day, I took my high school diploma with me. And I sat down, and I told her, and I finally did it.
CRAWLEY: She's looking down at you, and she's smiling from ear to ear because you kept that promise.
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INSKEEP: Wow, education is like a flower. I'll remember that. Joseph Bond and Tramaine Crawley in Philadelphia. Bond was crowned homecoming king, and he's now enrolled in college. Their interview is part of the StoryCorps Brightness in Black project and is archived at the Library of Congress.
(SOUNDBITE OF ANTONIO MESSIAS CAMPO DO'S "REGRETS") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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