I grew up surrounded by stories. Books were everywhere in our house and dearly loved, but not the only source. My parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents all told stories in their own ways. There does come a point where sitting on someone’s lap and asking for a story is no longer acceptable. Luckily I found there are people who actually tell stories as a profession. I highly recommend the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival as a place to find the best storytellers.
I can’t begin to name all the fantastic storytellers I have listened to over the years. They’ve had a major impact on me in many ways. Six of these marvelous people; Donald Davis, Carmen Deedy, Rex Ellis, Syd Lieberman, Waddie Mitchell, and Dovie Thomason came together quite a few years ago for a production entitled http://www.byutv.org/watch/6b6c3ccb-68e2-4d34-baf3-da2c482714c3/call-of-story-call-of-story. In one of the segments the tellers talk about the children they meet in schools or at events craving the stories these adult tellers perform about their own childhood experiences. There’s a gap where parents are not telling these stories to their children the way they used to and children are trying to get them any way they can.
This is all coming to mind with the children in my own family. My nieces constantly want me to tell about when they were younger. And they absolutely beg me for stories from when I was a little girl. Not to mention ratting out the dorky things my kid brother did. Yeah, that’s gonna catch up with me sooner or later. I tell them the stories over and over and over. We’ve done some of the stories so many times the girls have even started putting actions to the words as I talk.
I love this time with the kids in my family, but I’ve also noticed a new trend as they get older. They’ve started telling my stories to their friends, who then ask them to get me to tell new stories. This trend led me to think I should do something to share these stories, but I am a writer not a performer. My best work comes when I put the words on paper or screen. So I will be posting some of these tales as I complete them. Keeping in mind that I had a wild imagination and around thirty imaginary friends, who I did not always get along with, they should offer some entertainment although they will be quite a bit longer than average blog posts.