NATIONAL TELL A STORY DAY

Today is National Tell A Story Day. It is celebrated in the United Kingdom, Scotland and the USA.

So, let’s start with a story.

Once upon a time there was a very sweet, 16 year old girl.  Her mother wanted her to do some errands and told her she could take the car.  Being a new driver, the young girl was very excited.  Off she went to town.

The errands were completed and the girl returned home.  Her mother, without even the hint of a smirk, asked, “Where is the car?”

Yes, I am that girl.  I was so used to walking everywhere.  I finished the errands and walked home.  Of course, then I walked back to get the car.

You have my permission to laugh and tease me.

Where can you find stories?  BOOKS....I wish I had kept count of the books I read to our children and grandchildren.  Fairy tales.  Riddles.  Chapter books.  Dr. Seuss.  Books without words so we could make-up a story.  I wonder how many times we were in the library.  I wonder if they remember me reading to them as a special memory or just a normal part of their day.

I love to read.  Not history nor westerns, but I love a good mystery.  Sometimes I want a romance.  A story that does not require any thought.  A story that begins, “Mary took one look at Bill and knew he was not the guy for her.”  Right away I would know they would fall in love, get married and ride off into the sunset in a very clean, pick-up truck.

Sometimes, I want to read true stories.  Stories that teach me about other cultures or how to cope or make me laugh.  Sometimes I want to read books that make me learn, teach me something new.

Where can you find stories?  OTHER PEOPLE….I love to hear other people’s stories.  One day, in a small town, in his grandfather’s restaurant, I met a young man who was headed to Juilliard School of Music.  While on a girl’s get away, the man behind the counter told me he is a single father, raising a very special little girl.  I cannot read music, but a wonderful pianist told me she could play a hymnal full of songs from memory.  ---- I wish I had asked my grandmother to tell me stories.

Where can you find stories?  IN YOUR IMAGINATION....I have a very vivid imagination.  A fun thing to do is start a story and then allow others to finish it.  Imagination!  The story can have twists and turns.  Characters will take shape and then disappear as the next person continues.  The story might begin in an amusement park, work its way through a cemetery and end up with the final scene on an almost deserted island.  Use your imagination.

Where can you find stories?  IN THE BIBLE….If you want to read about landscaping, a great big boat, murder, bravery, fashion, strange water phenomenon, spies, love, family (good and bad), a furnace and fear, read the Bible!  And that is only a small fraction of the stories in the Old Testament.

My favorite Bible story begins like this:  Once upon a time there was a baby boy born in the Town of Bethlehem.  His name is Jesus.