Stories

I love stories. They can be true stories or fables or ones that have been handed down over the years. It doesn't matter as long as it is a story, a good story. I grew up hearing stories that had been handed down over the generations about ancestors and their exploits and I loved every one of them.

The story about one of my great grandmothers who was a little short lady, was a favourite.  She had her husband string her clothes line over a small hummock (knoll) so she could stand on it to reach the line. One night before she went to bed she saw a ship with black sails in the harbour. Her husband was gone fishing and she was alone but she bravely went to bed and in the morning she went to hang out her washing, as she usually did, only to find her hummock was gone. It had been dug up and in the bottom of the hole was the outline of a rectangular box. She had been standing on pirate treasure all those years and never knew it!

My Dad has the gift of story telling and I have my favourites that I ask him, even now, to tell and he obliges me. I love a good story movie too and there are not very many of those being made anymore but when you see one you remember it forever. I just finished watching Fried Green Tomatoes for probably the umteenth time, but I never tire of it. It is a good story about friendship. I love the movie Big Fish, again, because it is a story; and any person who loves a good story will love the movie Pecos Bill: an Incredibly Tall Tale. There are a few good story movies out there, you have to search for them and when you find them you cherish them as dear friends. Benjamin Button and the Joy Luck Club are both movies that you should see too. And while you are reading this you are probably thinking of your favourites too.

Whether it is a good book or movie or if it is a story that is handed down over the generations, a good story is worthy to remember and repeat. We are quickly becoming a society that doesn't have time to hear stories. You'll hear comments like 'get to the point' or 'cut to the chase', because our world is too busy to indulge in a story.

A good story teller takes his time in the telling. He puts all of his emotions into it and can give the details and descriptions that fill out a good story. He has a good memory and carries his stories around with him as precious treasures to be shared. Whether it's called a story, or a good 'yarn' doesn't matter, what does is the telling and the sharing. Let me encourage you to become a story teller if you are not already. Listen to older people and ask them to share their stories so you can pass them down.

I love a good story! They are our history, our heritage, our treasure!