RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST: It's Friday and time for StoryCorps. Today: two best friends who were both married to the same woman - of course not at the same time. Larry Rolf and Denny Daniels know their relationship is an unlikely one. And at StoryCorps, the two sat down to talk about how they first met on Thanksgiving.
DENNY DANIELS: I asked her what she wanted to do for Thanksgiving. She said, well, let's go over to Larry's. I said, wait a minute, you want me to go over to your ex-husband's for Thanksgiving?
LARRY ROLF: I didn't really have a problem when Sharon said that she was bringing somebody. It's just another cup you add to the soup.
DANIELS: I said, well, I'll compromise. We'll go for an hour. She says, that's okay. But we kind of hit it off.
ROLF: Yeah, about 10:00 I thought: was this guy going to move in or what? But I am so glad that Sharon and you got married. I was complete horse's ass with the relationship that I had. I was drinking, chasing, and Sharon was there. She took care of the kids when I was out in bars. And how she made it, sometimes it just amazes me. And her last years with you, I think, were probably the happiest in her life.
But a couple of weeks before she died, I got to tell her what I thought and how sorry I was, and she forgave me.
DANIELS: I don't know without you if I could have gotten through it. Every day you would call me, make sure that I was OK. You still do. When you lose somebody that you love, it creates a hole in your soul that's hard to fill, and you helped fill that. You're more like a brother than a friend. And I appreciate that so very much.
MONTAGNE: That's Denny Daniels and Larry Rolf. The two still get together for the holidays. Their interview, like all the others, will be archived at the American Folk Life Center at the Library of Congress. To see StoryCorps' newest animated short, visit NPR.org.
