A partial list of how important storytelling is to us:
- We wrote letters to each other at the beginning of our relationship when we were in high school because we attended different colleges. We essentially told the story of each day to one another. These stories contributed to the foundation of our subsequent marriage.
- There are no pictures of our wedding, only a ripping good yarn.
- Our children grew up with stories and now our grandchildren clamor for the same, with the addition of stories about their parents!
- Pam has been telling stories since before she could speak — amusing herself first, then her friends and younger relatives, then her students as a teacher, then her community — first as a founding member of Odyssey Storytellers in Ithaca, then as a founding member of State of the Story in State College.
- David has ALWAYS been telling stories at home, but never thought of himself as a storyteller or as someone who knew anything about the power of narrative. It was largely by accident that he began to notice how important narrative is in teaching and administrative work. Getting the “story right” is an important ingredient for success, and as time passed he became more and more impressed with the power of a good story, particularly grandchildren stories.
- We make major life decisions based on the story we can tell about them.
- And we understand that sometimes, in order to make sense of the random chaos of life, you sometimes tell the story backwards.