Those who know me are well aware of
my love for stories. I grew up hearing
them. My dad was a first-rate
storyteller, so were several of our farm neighbors. Beyond the great meals, as the neighbors
gathered for threshing, silo filling, corn shredding and wood sawing, were the
stories. Told after the meals. Told during the breaks in work. Driving by a
field of shocked oats triggers for me stories about threshing days. Corn shocks remind me of corn shredding
crews.
Stories are important, well beyond
their entertainment value. Stories help us recall the past while opening a
window to the future. Stories tie us to
our past and at the same time provide a platform for facing the future. By
telling our stories, we are coming out from behind ourselves and letting other
people know a little more about who we are.
The pictures formed in our minds when
we hear a story are often far better than those we see in movies or on
television. As a kid, I listened to
radio programs: The Lone Ranger, Terry and the Pirates, Captain Midnight,
Jack Armstrong and others. The
stories tapped into my imagination. I lived the stories right along with the
radio actors who were telling them. I
saw the pictures in my mind as clearly as if they were printed on paper.
A story is more than words. A story can evoke feelings in people they
have thought long forgotten, bringing tears and laughter, sometimes in the same
paragraph. Our stories make us different
from one another yet tie us all together.
Storytelling can change us
forever. Our stories can help us
discover meaning in our lives without defining or describing it. Stories ground
us, give us pleasure, and provide a sense of purpose in our lives. Stories help make us human. When we forget our stories, we forget who we
are.
THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Tell me a story.
WHERE
TO BUY MY BOOKS
Buy from your local bookstore, or buy online from the Wisconsin
Historical Society bookstore, https://shop.wisconsinhistory.org/books, bookshop.org, or purchase from the Friends of the Patterson
Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for
prices and ordering, or contact the librarian: barnard@wildroselibrary.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984.
www.wildroselibrary.org
If you live in the
western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby, visit
Dregne’s. and look at their great
selection of my books. Order a book from them by calling 1-877-634-4414. They
will be happy to help you. If you live
in northcentral Wisconsin, stop at the Janke bookstore in Wausau (phone
715-845-9648). They also have a large
selection of my books.
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