I peered through the no-longer-existing wire fence, looked beyond the tall weeds and grass to the farmhouse that was beginning to tilt and thought “What stories that building could tell!”
Like … tales of a long-ago time when it stood tall and erect providing shelter for residents and a wonderful space in the attic for children to play.
Like … stories its residents told as they shared, laughed cried and consoled one another
it will be a relic. As we, who begin to tilt to one side, will someday be a relic.Let us not wait until it is too late to share our stories.
We all have them. Let us ask our elders to tell us their stories. They won’t always be with us to tell their stories. Let us record our stories in a Journal. Speak our story into a recording device. Talk about our “good old – and not so good – old days” so that after we wither and tilt and have moved on
to-whatever-comes-next our loved ones will know us in a deeper way
than they now do.
What are our stories? How to begin?
Begin at the beginning … what are our childhood memories? who was our favourite teacher and why? when did we have our first kiss? where did we go on our first trip? when have we felt vulnerable? what was our first paid job? who challenged us in life? how do we feel about the still-controversial subjects such as capital punishment, abortion, euthanasia, same sex marriage? when did we first vote – why – for whom? when have we felt affirmed? who is our best friend – why? how did we feel when we first experienced death (of a pet, a loved one, a friend)? did we “deal” with the death or ignore it? what were our hopes and dreams when we were younger? what are our wishes for our final days? how do we want to be remembered by our loved ones, friends?The questions are endless. Like good questions, they lead to more questions. More self-discovery too.
Let us tell our stories about our experiences, learnings, adventures, discoveries so that those left behind when we die will not berate themselves with questions they wish they’d asked us when we were alive.
Aging, tilting, relic we may be becoming, but we have stories to tell! Let’s tell them!
Photo and Text © June Maffin www.soulistry.com/blog
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