Consumer Watch: How to tell the story of our lives

Teenage Granddaughter Relaxing With Grandmother In Garden
Teenage Granddaughter Relaxing With Grandmother In Garden

While not a "consumer" column, today's advice may be just as crucial. Readers might recall amongst other hats, I wear one of professional storyteller, and my special love is telling family tales. With today's society in such flux, past generations' stories get left in yesteryear and, all of a sudden, Grandmother or Uncle Dave die and their favorite family memories are lost forever. With the additional loss of oral communication (as opposed to the ever-reigning text) and just as with history lessons, it's imperative we learn as much about our past as possible for those lessons also to be passed on to subsequent generations. So how do we go about telling the story of our lives?

1. Start with your parent's generational members.

Ask questions, such as "What's your earliest memory about having a pet?" or "If you received spankings when you were young, what misbehaviors did you do to deserve them? Did you have to pick your personal switch and what happened if it wasn't big enough?" Put your thinking cap on to come up with loads of questions – ones that will make your interviewee really think and ignore yes or no answers unless you follow these up with other leading questions.

2. Use the resources available to you.

Ideally, hire a videographer. This way, he or she can record throughout the day while the "memories" are pouring out and, at the end of the sessions, the professional can put them all together for one or more wonderful family tales. If money's too tight for this avenue, put your cell phone to better use than the eternal texting role. Video the senior with your cell and then, following these sessions, gather, compose, and write the memories into a story or two. Truly, you'll be amazed what you learn. When I first became the certified "Tale-Teller" back in the late 1990, I sent a tape recorder and cassette home to my parents in Alabama. As my mother's parents both died within months of each other when she was quite young, she had very few recollections of her youth or what situations evolved around her folks. Amazingly enough, once she began to simply talk into the recorder, her reminiscences became clearer and recollections of her early life as a small child grew clearer and more vivid, resulting in such family tales as "Mama and the Gun," "Mean Dogs," and several others. (On the other hand, my dad had entertained us for years with stories of his youth so it was an easy task to generate those into a series of paternal family tales. What fun I had developing and still telling, among others, such humorous accounts as "Syrup Pie," The 'Snake'," and "De Wats" – otherwise deciphered as "The Rats.") Priceless treasures to be passed on down forever

3. Write your own autobiography.

We don't have to be elderly or even a senior citizen to write our own human-interest stories. What memories are we most passionate about? Can they be woven together to make one good story? Many readers may recollect that I was stricken with polio as a seven-year-old. From that initial diagnosis to the years that followed became one, long memory that, when intertwined together, evolved into a wonderful story all by itself. From the monstrous iron lung that breathed for me to the following year on the shores of Panama City Beach where, with the help of a giant innertube, I was able to float in the warm gulf waters, all by myself, the sun tickling my face, to achieve a few sacred moments of independence. The times my 13-year-old brother and four-year-old sister would "help" Mother by taking me for a ride in my wheelchair that first summer I was home from Warm Spring Foundation. Those "Great Wheelchair Rides" would commence with Joe's long-suffering face as he condescended to wheel me around the block. He and our mama would carry my wheelchair down the back steps, heave me down to sit in the chair, and he and Nan would sedately begin to stroll me down the driveway to the street. Every moment or two, Joe glanced back to see if Mama was watching from the kitchen window and, when he knew he was safe from vision, all hell broke loose. VA VA VROOM!

With a loud whoop, he tilted the back wheels and raced up and down the street, Nan running along as hard as her chubby little legs would allow, and me holding on for dear life. I screamed as he sprinted, somewhat from the fear of being tipped over, but mostly for the sheer enjoyment of "running," too.

People don't have to have tragic or crazy events happen to them as a child or adult to produce wonderful or even powerful family stories. Your first date or kiss, the time you, as a cheerleader, fell off the pyramid facedown in the mud, the big fish that got away, how you felt the first time you asked a girl out on a date – and the list goes on and on. In writing your own autobiography, focus on the parts of your life: childhood, teen years, young adulthood, professional memories, and those of relationships and older life. The stories are within you. Let them out; let them bloom!

P.S. As many of you know, I lost my beautiful grandson to a drug overdose in January. To try to help others who are journeying along this terrible pathway with a loved one, I've created a presentation entitled "The True Face of Addiction." To begin promotion, Channel 9's "This and That" has been gracious enough to schedule my appearance on its show next month. Keep your eye peeled for further info as to the date so you can tune-in.

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