The stories that stick with us: The one story in 27 years that elicited a copy editor's tears

Over the course of my 27-year career in journalism, there have been hundreds of stories that made me angry.

There have been hundreds that made me sad, hundreds that made me laugh, and hundreds that restored my faith in humanity.

Many of them - both the irksome and the uplifting - spurred me to write an item for our Saturday Soapbox feature.

But there's only one - one in 27 years - that made me cry. I suspect it moved many of our readers to tears as well.

It wasn't a story I had written or edited. I didn't even see it until after it was published on our front page.

Yet that piece by former Daily Herald reporter Amy E. Williams, printed in the Sept. 29, 2001, edition, has stuck with me all these years.

First off, the headline: "A life of silence comes to an end with three words."

And then the subhead: "A gentle 'I love you' from his wife transports 59-year-old suburban man into new world."

How could you not keep reading? (I don't know which of my copy desk colleagues wrote that headline and subhead, but I sure wish I had.) But you do stop reading for a moment, because the accompanying photo is so compelling.

Long-retired Daily Herald photographer Dave Tonge was in the room at Loyola University Medical Center, along with Williams, when Huntley resident Steve Henning's cochlear implant was activated for the first time.

After an audiologist gave the go-ahead, Henning's wife, Pat, leaned in and said, "I love you."

There was a long pause, Williams wrote, and then Steve Henning responded, "I can hear that."

Pat Henning, who had been clutching her husband's hand, then pressed her forehead to his arm, overcome with emotion. Tonge captured the tender moment perfectly.

Williams' words painted a picture; Tonge's picture was worth 1,000 words.

• News Editor Michelle Holdway has worked at the Daily Herald since 1998.