DID I EVER TELL YOU THE STORY ABOUT …
“If you have heard this story before, don’t stop me, because I would like to hear it again.”
Groucho Marx
I am a story-teller. I come from a long line of storytellers. And just like the storytellers who went before me, I tend to forget if I have or haven’t told a story in the past or if this is the hundredth time I’ve bored you with the same tale.
For a storyteller, nothing is better than a literal captive audience. Every road trip with my family becomes an opportunity to share my cherished memories and comical exploits. I remember when my kids were little and they’d say, “Tell me a story.” They don’t say that anymore. As a matter of fact, I have recently noticed them mimicking me and getting to the punchline ahead of me. And I wonder: Is it possible that my children (hostages) have heard all my stories? (God love him; my long-suffering husband has definitely heard them all multiple times, but because he is a smart man, he pretends it’s all new material. He must dread car trips where every song and every sign reminds me of a story…that he has already heard.) While my stories are entertaining, I can see the look I get from family and friends as I am about to tell one of my favorites. It’s a look of pity and panic. I can tell they are thinking: “Does she really not remember how many times she has told this story? How the heck old is she? How do I make her stop?” Sometimes they do stop me. Most times, they just suffer through the retelling. Either way, they give me “the look”. I know the look. I give the look. I give that look to my mom regularly. And she gave it to her mother and so on and so forth. It’s the fate of all aging storytellers.
So, now I try to start every little anecdote with “Did I tell you the story about…?” It’s also why I included this section on my little blog. I needed a new audience who wouldn’t give me “the look.” This is where I can share ALL my stories. Some readers will be hearing them for the first time and others will be able to skip a story they have heard without hurting my feelings. This also serves as a reminder to me that I have in fact shared a story and don’t need to tell it again. I think this is genius. So, this is the place where I will share a lifetime of stories that I hope will make you smile. And the best part: you can’t stop me if you heard them before.
By the way, storytellers hate it when we ask the “Did I tell you the story about…” question, and their listener says, “Yes.” We don’t quite know what to do. I recently had the experience of being with a group of people who literally knew every story I was about to tell. On the way home, I passed a nursing home near our house that has a “memory village” for those with dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease. While I understand the sadness of memory loss in the elderly, I think to myself, the memory village is the perfect venue for the storyteller. Nobody remembers your stories. It reminded of my grandfather, who lived with Alzheimer’s, and my grandmother, who was a world-class storyteller. Every day, Nana would visit Papa and tell him one of her stories. He’d laugh like it was the first time he heard it. And for him, it was. I’m not quite ready to check myself into the home just to get a willing audience, but it makes me think that somewhere in that memory village is a storyteller who lives to tell her stories and who can have her best ones on an endless loop and nobody stops her. And she is happy. I also imagine the joy and laughter the storyteller brings with each story she tells to an audience who is for the most part new every day. With every funny story she retells, she delivers what the Bible calls the good medicine of laughter. It seems to me that in this both teller and listener are blessed. It makes me smile as I drive by.
For me, it would be pure joy to have my tombstone read, “She made us laugh.” Life can be pretty serious, and we can all use a good laugh now and again. Most, but not all, of my stories are humorous. Many are downright unbelievable. Not long ago, I overheard a friend of mine telling her daughter that I am the funniest person she knows and that I tell the best stories. I was all proud, feeling pretty good about my comedic chops. Then she added, “She makes up a lot of stuff, but it’s pretty funny.” Huh? Here’s the thing folks: It’s all true. Every story. True. I rarely exaggerate or even embellish my stories. I don’t need to. Crazy things just happen to me, and that makes for very funny stories. And the good news is that even after I tell all my stories, there is always a new day that provides opportunities for highly entertaining ridiculous things to find their way into my otherwise run-of-the-mill little life. My mom always says, “These things happen for our own amusement and amazement.” And now, I get to share that with you. So, folks, prepare to be amused and amazed.
#stories