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‘Humility and dreams would float through the air while my sisters and I rolled our eyes. We couldn’t relate to music about Puerto Rico’s countryside.’

Growing up in Brooklyn, Sonia Pérez recalled how her father would drink beer, sit on the sofa and lose himself in records from Puerto Rico, where he grew up. One day, he stopped listening. Sonia and her siblings wondered why.

On the other side of the world, in Ireland, Grainne Armstrong recalls the moment she experienced her daughter’s love for the first time, set to a soundtrack of opera and birdsong.

Today, two stories about a parent and child longing for a deeper connection – and how music sparked their understanding of one another.

Today’s Stories

• “The Day the Music Died,” Sonia Pérez

• “Music in the Woods,” Grainne Armstrong

Hosted by: Anna Martin
Produced by: Julia Botero, Hans Buetow, Christina Djossa, Elyssa Dudley and Anna Martin
Edited by: Sara Sarasohn
Engineered by: Dan Powell
Theme Music by: Dan Powell
Original Music by: Elisheba Ittoop and Ramito
Tiny Love Stories Read by: Sonia Pérez and Grainne Armstrong
Founder, Modern Love: Daniel Jones
Editor, Modern Love Projects: Miya Lee

Special thanks: Mahima Chablani, Nell Gallogly, Julia Simon, Jeffrey Miranda, Anna Diamond at Audm, Ansonia Records and Peer Music.

Want more from Modern Love? Read past stories. Watch the TV series and sign up for the newsletter. We also have swag at the NYT Store and two books, “Modern Love: True Stories of Love, Loss, and Redemption” and “Tiny Love Stories: True Tales of Love in 100 Words or Less.”