The Importance Of Story Telling
A few weeks ago I attended a funeral of a lovely 88 year-old man. He’d lived on our street my entire life. I knew him as one of my parents friends, devoted husband of 60+ years and the lovely man down the road. But I really didn’t know that much about him. During the service, his daughter read out some wonderful stories from his younger years. She’d realised the importance of story telling and made sure her Dad shared his story with the family before his passing. I learned he was interested in photography and even had his own darkroom many years ago. Now, given I’m a photographer, I can’t believe I didn’t know this.
And it reminded me of how little we may actually know about people in our lives. Especially those older members in our family. And how sad is that? The older generation are a treasure trove of tales. I’m always fascinated to hear their incredible stories; stories from a completely different era, one we cannot even begin to imagine.
Talk To Your Loved Ones
I’m lucky enough to have my parents to ask them their stories. So a few years ago, I recorded some of my Dad’s childhood memories. I learned a whole other side of my Dad, about his early life during WWII and even about my great-grandfather, who I never met.
So, my task today is to transcribe these conversations into a journal for my entire family to keep. It’s quite surreal, sitting here listening to my Dad tell me about the time he was in grade 2 during WWII in England. My Dad hid under his desk as a German bomber flew overhead after it bombed the local train station. The same train station my great-grandfather worked as a coal merchant. I never knew this side of my Dad. He’s always just been, well, my Dad. The one who carried me on his shoulders, told me jokes and made me laugh. And because he owned the local hardware store for decades, he can fix almost anything!
So, the point my story is, talk to your loved ones! Find out their stories. I guarantee you will discover a whole other person to the one you already know and love.
Need A Writer?
If you need a writer to help you with your story telling or writing project, please drop me a line here. I’m renowned for being great with words, famous for chatting with people and have experience in creating professional, persuasive and engaging content for my clients. I’m a freelance writer and media specialist with a Degree in Communications, but public relations and story telling are my forte’.
