Tuesday, December 23, 2008

The Best Storytellers.....

Hello all. I have been thinking a lot since yesterday. Last night, we took two of the kiddos to a theme park in south Georgia for the Christmas lights and we invited DH's mom to come along. She is such a neat person. She enjoyed the lights and even though most of the rides weren't open, she was a good sport to hang out in the 30 degree temperatures to wait for the Light Show over the Lake. (That actually turned out be about 6 minutes long). Anyway, I thought I would post this story today, since she is traveling to my BIL and SIL's house and will probably not read it. I don't want her to see this, it will probably make her sad.

Two of the best storytellers I have ever known, I met through my DH. The first one was Papa. He was my MIL's dad. What a wonderful man. I miss him. He was the dean of journalism at the UF for years. And he has quite a few published books. My two favorite are Cold Before Morning and What Tomorrow Brings, by John Paul Jones. He has other books. I am so glad that my boys got to know him before he passed away. Neat, neat man. Told a fabulous story, too.

The second storyteller was my FIL, that man could have you hanging on the edge of your seat or rolling around laughing out loud. And he would just suck you into whatever story he was telling. His hand gestures and facial expressions just carried you along on the river of the story that he was telling. I didn't get nearly enough time to appreciate him as fully as I should have. We are so blessed that all of our children got to know him and to have time with him so that they too, remember what a great storyteller and granddad that he was. I have been missing him a whole lot lately and am afraid to talk to my DH about it cause I don't want to upset him. But, Joel, I miss you. You would have gotten a great deal of stories to pass on with laughter from the experiences I have been enjoying since we moved here. I wish ... oh well. You can all guess what I wish. But my FIL was not one to get bogged down in wishes and emotions. He is with Jesus now, and I'm confident that we'll see him again one day. And he'll have more fabulous stories to tell us.

Do you all have a favorite storyteller? I'd love to hear about them.

80 comments:

Lindsay-ann said...

Hi Shelley
I totally understand how you are feeling at the moment about your FIL. My own Dad passed away in March this year (age 63) and I miss him so much. He was not a storyteller but I miss my chats with him everyday.
I know he is at peace this Christmas and I feel he is close.
Best Wishes for Christmas time.
Lindsay

Becky said...

I think Christmas time makes us all think of our loved ones who are not here on earth with us. We just gotta carry those stories on for them if we can...

Laura Marchant said...

I wish when my Granddad was alive I would have asked him to tell me more stories. He was such a great man who taught himself how to build a computer at the age of 82! I use to call him for computer help. How I miss him dearly.

Southern Rose said...

I've got chill bumps. You're right; how weird, huh? that we both wrote about him yesterday. I know how much our mil misses him, but he is missed by so many people. I was expecting him to be there when we moved back, but I'm glad our kids will remember him.

Hope you are enjoying your family being with you. See you soon.

Patrice said...

Wow beautiful post! My grandfather is a great story teller and I'm sure my great grandfather was, but I can't really remember.

debi9kids said...

What a lovely post!

Mu nana is my favorite story teller. She is my last remaining grandparent and at 92 years old, I am not sure how much longer we will be blessed to have her. But, I am so thankful that my children have gotten a chance to know her and listen to her stories.

Thanks for giving me some moments tonight to reflect on some great memories of my childhood :)

Happy SITSday!

Judy Schwartz Haley | CoffeeJitters.Net said...

my dad died a little over a year ago. he was never a big talker but every once in a while out of nowhere he would just blow us away with an amazing story.

Mrs. Jelly Belly said...

Beautiful post.

Both of my grandfathers were great storytellers. Blessed with the gift of gab, they made us laugh constantly. I am sorry that I never got to "know" them as an adult.

Happy SITS Day.

Anonymous said...

He sounds a lot like my grandfather, he passed away when I was 13. I am 36 now and still miss him every day. Thank you for the wonderful post!

cat said...

I love a good story and story tellers seem to be a dying breed.

Anonymous said...

Happy SITS day! My brother is an amazing storyteller. He never fails to completely crack everyone up with how he replays things. I love it!

Kathy said...

Happy SITS day!

I am blessed with a family of great story tellers (although we often call them the family liars/historians) as well as great listeners. Thank you for sharing your story.

Preston said...

No real story tellers in my family. It sounds like those guys were wonderful. Congrats on you SITS day!

Astrid in Bristling Acres said...

*sigh* No story tellers in our family. I wish I was a great (I'd take good) story teller but I'm not.
Happy SITS day!

Rhea said...

I don't know that I have a fav storyteller in my family, but I love anyone who tells a story.

Katie Lane said...

My grandpa, the one that was adicted to tetris, tells the best stories ever. I could listen to that man talk all day long. Some of my most favorite momeries are when our family would all sit around a camp fire and listen to his stories. I miss him oh so much!

Unknown said...

What a beautiful tribute to some special men in your life. It truly is a blessing that your children were able to meet them. Happy SITS day!

Willo said...

Don't you love great storytellers? They are just people I want to hang out with forever.

Erika said...

No one in my family comes to mind... Although we do live in an area that has many great storytellers. Thanks for the great post!

jubilee said...

My mom's dad was a great story teller and quite the tease. Wish my children could have grown up with him in their lives.

Sandy said...

Happy SITSday!

Anonymous said...

That was a very sweet memory of your FIL ... how nice to read something so heartfelt today!

said...

It's gratifying to have a place you can talk about things you maybe can't talk about face to face. Lovely homage.

Congratulations on your SITS feature. :o)

BloggessJ said...

Happy SITS day! My uncle and my grandfather are pretty great story tellers....My grandma has a few good ones too.

Anonymous said...

We have a storyteller we miss, too. It makes me want to work on my storytelling skills so that someday people will miss me like that :) How selfish of me. Anyhow, this is a very sweet post and I hope your MIL did read it, I'm sure it gave her warm fuzzies.

Lyssa said...

Happy SITS Day! I want to grow up to be the storyteller in my family! What a nice relationship you have with your family!

What A Card said...

How wonderful that you (and your children) had a chance to get to know such interesting people. I'm sorry they are gone

Jeanne Estridge said...

I do love a good storyteller....

Ryan Ashley Scott said...

Happy SITS Day!

When I was a kid, my siblings and I were careful to never ask my Dad about anything, because it would ultimately end in a super long explanation that we didn't care about. As an adult, I ask a lot of questions. He's a great history/story teller.

This post made me tear up - what a heartfelt note.

Brandy said...

Congrats on being the featured blogger! You will be buried under all the comments and love today.

Your love for both of these men comes through loud and proud. Just as I loved to listen to my Granny and hear all about her stories-some more believable than others. What I wouldn't do to have her with me again...

Debbie Y. said...

My brother can verbally entertain an audience of nieces about things that have happened to him in the past and keep them in stitches laughing their hearts out. Many a day me, my mom and my little brother would sit around the table and tell stories laughing until we were crying. We called ourselves The Three Muskateers. My daughter took offense to that even when she was little because she always tagged along and felt that she was not given credit as being the fourth muskateer. My mother has been in heaven these past six years and I still miss her so.

Happy Sits Day!

Safire said...

Beautiful post. Over here from SITS.

Anonymous said...

beautiful post. It made me miss my mom who passed in March. Over from SITS

Emilee Grace Co. said...

My favorite storyteller in my family is my great uncle. His name is Socrates but we call him Uncle Greek. He used to tell us this story about a little boy named Half a Hinee who lived in a teapot. He'd go on to tell us all of his brothers names - all hilarious, made up names. LOL To this day when we see him, we ask him to tell us the story. He can't believe we even remember. :)

mommytoalot said...

wonderful post!
My favourite story teller ..is my gf's hubby...
he tells great stories..with such enthusiam he even has my teenagers on the edge of their seats

Vickie said...

First I want to say, I love the song, :When she loved me" from "Toy Story 2"

Okay, this was a wonderful post. It is nice to remember people who are special. I lost my father many years ago. He loved to tell stories at the dinner table. At the time we would raise our eyes, but when he died, we missed those stories.

Shanda said...

I always love your blog!! So excited that you are featured today!

The storytellers in our lives are so wonderful! All of mine are with the Lord as well...I have found a WONDERFUL old story teller. I think you would LOVE "The Hat of My Mother" by Max Steele. Our library has it on audio CD and it is awesome! Check it out!

Congrats again on being featured! I have added you to my blog roll.

HUGS!
Shanda

Charmaine said...

I can't think of a really good story-teller. Although I'm sure if I sat here long enough somebody would come to mind... But, I do love the guy who reads the Harry Potter books on the audio CDs. He's awesome! He's even won a Grammy for it!

Crazy Momma said...

What a beautiful post. I will tell you that my fahter is one of my favorite story tellers. I love to hear them (even when they are about what a rotten teenager I was).

Anonymous said...

Great post! Happy SITS day! I can't think of my favorite family storyteller but your post makes me sad that I don't have one!

Heather and Daniel said...

Happy SITS!

My daughter is our story teller. She is always telling us the adventures of her monster.

Girly Do Hairstyles said...

What a great story. My husbands grandpa was our story teller. He was funny to listen too because he was very religious, but he'd get going with these stories of people he was passionate about and would swear about things they did that didn't fit his religious beliefs. So he was a little 93 year old man that would swear up a storm about his story. He was a great man. And a great example. Happy SITS day!

Kate said...

Hey Shelley - I'm going to have to check out those books.
And yeah, we've got all kinds of story tellers around here - my grandpa, my dad and my little munchkin can spin a story as well.

Sherrie said...

What a great post! Happy SITS day to you!

•´.¸¸.•¨¯`♥.Erin.♥´¯¨•.¸¸.´• said...

Came from SITS, enjoy your day basking in the comment love =)

I've had some great story tellers in my life. My father probably was the most guilty of story telling...I think one of my sisters inherited that {just don't tell her}, as I could listen to her talk for days on end. My husband's grandfather is also one, with a thick Texas accent to go along with it. It's great.

Mammatalk said...

Sounds like your life was blessed with some wonderful men!

Unknown said...

We have many great storytellers in our family, but my Mom is not one of them! Too many details!

Kelly Deneen Raymond said...

What a nice tribute to the storytellers of your family!

Anonymous said...

What a lovely post!

My brother can tell a mean story. He's wickedly funny, too.

Ronnica said...

What a great tribute to two meaningful men!

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful post! I remember my favorite teacher in school being a wonderful storyteller. I also love listening to my in-laws...they all have a knack for it.

Blicky Kitty said...

It's such a gift to be around people who can spin a good yarn. We have so few opportunities for conversation in today's world that you really tend to remember them. Happy SITS day!

Jacie said...

what wonderful memories you have with them.
happy sits day

angie said...

Glad you have such wonderful memories of those two special people.

Mommy's Wish List said...

my two-yr-old is actually turning out to be quite the storyteller. i didn't know that two-year-olds did that. he can go on and on making his stories more and more ludicrous as he goes.

Pamela said...

Not enough people sit around and tell stories now, everyone is rush rush or too much tv! My dad likes to tell stories but they are always corny, but I love it!!!

Tori C. said...

My grandfather is a great storyteller!

Mandy said...

Great post. Congrats on your SITS day!

Anonymous said...

THanks for sharing such a great story.

Kendra said...

What a great post. Mine would have to be my papa....how I miss him. Happy SITS day!

Tara said...

I can relate to you so much in this post...

I just lost my FIL and i miss him DEARLY! I can't believe how hard it is...it's been over a month and I can still cry on the drop of a dime when talking about him. I wish so bad we had more time...more time to talk with him and listen to him. You just never think they'll be gone and you'll have as much as you need to hear about them and their stories....but you just never know.

But my passion is about story....i love-love-love your post because of you shared your love for "story"...so many people don't realize how important and amazing storytelling is in our own families. It's what keeps us together and makes us who we are. You have to come check out my blog...i have lost of ideas and posts about remembering those we lost but also writing our stories and telling them as well. Thank you for such a beautiful post and for sharing it! ♥ Tara

www.publishourstories.com

L said...

Hi, stopping by from SITS. I love the Lord too! I also love hearing stories and unfortunately don't have anyone around who still tells them. My granddad did as did my grandma. I remember them fondly and still miss them. My children love to hear stories so I tell them about when they were born, or when they were little all the time.

thank you for sharing your heart in this post.

Heather said...

such a great post!

Tabitha Blue said...

Ohhhh, I'd love to have storytellers in our lives like that. Sounds like a wonderful family! Maybe one of your boy will carry on the tradition!

:)
~Tabitha~

freshmommyblog.com

Sandra said...

I am the storyteller of my huge family. They count on me to document and be the historian. it could be because all of them don't speak or write in English well,.. we are Italian.

It would have been great to have knowns someone else who spins a yarn.

Alicia @ Oh2122 said...

I come from a whole family of them, and my 21 month old is shaping up to be quite the storyteller too.

When we can understand him, that is...

Michelle said...

Sorry about your loss.

My FIL too is one great story teller. He's been writing his memoirs for us...it's better than any book I've read.

My husband is amazing too. I love to hear him tell the kids' birth stories.

Leslie said...

Took me a bit to figure out what all of the initials stood for. I'm still not sure about DH. Nevertheless, it was a very nice story about the writer in your family.

Laura said...

Beautiful post. Made me miss my Great Grandpa. He was an amazing storyteller. He could remember all the details, like the day of the week.

Lisa @ Crazy Adventures in Parenting said...

My favorite storyteller is my husband. He has this amazing memory, and he can calm me with his voice like no one else, and brings me right back to things we've done with his amazing memory. Great, great post!

Anonymous said...

What a great post! I'm sorry that you are missing your storytellers. My husband is my favorite. He is hilarious, does voices, acts out the story. Everyone loves listening to him.

Michelle said...

The storytellers are really the ones who bring us a connection with the rest of the world. You're lucky to have had two in your life, and for them to have touched so many!

Maggie Sue Designs said...

Thanks for sharing your story of sweet memories :)
~~Meredith from SITS
http://www.maggiesuedesigns.com

Mrsbear said...

My grandfather is a great storyteller. Half the time you don't know whether he's relating an actual experience or a fictitious one, but it is always entertaining. His laughter is contagious.

Aubrey said...

Hi! Coming over from SITS.

My Fat Granny was the BEST storyteller. My cousins and I can go on for days retelling her tales. What a gift she left us with!

Elizabeth M Thompson said...

My Dad was the best storyteller ever! I believe my son has inherited the gift.

Esther said...

My hubby's great at telling stories. He's not a laugh out loud, life of the party sort of guy but really has the way of making any story seem interesting. I, however, will get half way through a story, think this is boring, and hurry up to get it finished and ruin the effect.

BlueCastle said...

Great post! My grandma is a good storyteller. She was really good at "embellishing" stories to keep my sister and I wide-eyed and sometimes horrified when we were younger. :)

Hccm said...

Such a lovely post!

Hugs and Mocha,
Stesha

Jennifer said...

I'm a journalist so I love meeting and talking to or listening to god story tellers. I'd say one of the best ones I know is Mr. Dole at WSB in Atlanta, he does an AMAZING job with writing stories.

I also love the way my husband tells stories. Not that he's good, just cute to watch/listen to.