That being said, I did have lots of time to listen to her stories. After a few glasses of wine, she pulled lots of oldies but goodies out of her repertoire. The thing about it is, I wonder if they're only nice to listen to over and over again because of nostalgia? I also wonder if they're only good if you know the people involved?
The kids make me think that they're good for everyone. They sit and listen intently to stories about my dad and about my childhood.
A list of stories I heard this weekend (in no particular order):
- The one about the pet bears.
- The one about Jane Fonda's workout.
- The one about the pet raccoon.
- The one about tanning (with a new line that my Papa uses about baby oil being his sunscreen).
- The one about the hearing aids
- The one about the radioactive checks (no it's retroactive, not radioactive).
- The one about how my parents met.
- The one about Grampa Lister.
- The one about Uncle Jack's batting.
- The one about the grapes (yup).
- The one about the spaghetti sauce on the curtains, the custard pie, and Uriah's first swear word.
Is this a thing for most families or is it just my family (or should I say my fantastic mother)?
I tend to hear about the fishing or the hunting stories - OVER AND OVER - from my wonderful husband.
ReplyDeleteMy wife's family are all storytellers. They share again and again. Every gathering -- not matter how small or how big -- full of references to the past.
ReplyDeleteMy family? Nope.
In some ways, I think it has to do with how much laughter is in those stories. How often did our families laugh? I grew up in a loving and caring household, but not one that was stacked with laughter. My grandfather made up for it with his jokes and stories, but I don't have many of my own.
Also makes me wonder about students who struggle with their own memories and stories -- why they may prefer to write fiction over memoir?