|
|
|
The views expressed on this page are soley
those of the author and do not
necessarily represent the views of County
News Online
|
 |
Pass
on the family stories
By Melissa Martin
“When families are invited to share their stories, folktales, and
culture, there are a number of benefits for children, families, and
schools: Encouraging students to talk with family members about their
cultural heritage shows respect and interest in students’ diverse
cultures, making students and families feel more connected to the
school. Families are offered authentic, academically oriented ways of
being involved in the school without themselves needing to be highly
proficient in English or numerous academic subjects.”
www.readingrockets.org/.
Every family has a book full of stories. Account of births and
deaths—and the colorful happenings in-between. Each generation is
unique. Tales are photographs made up of word pictures. Of course, some
yarns are embellished or exaggerated. And some stories are full of
laughter while others are full of tears. We reach back into our
memories and relive the times of the past. Family history is embossed
in our DNA.
Recently, my aunt Judy told me a story about the time Lydia, my
grandmother, square danced for Rosalynn Carter. I guess the Carters
visited Portsmouth, Ohio, during their campaign for the presidency.
Lydia bowed and kissed the hand of Rosalynn after the dance ended—and
the lady from Georgia bestowed a glowing compliment upon the pioneer
woman from Appalachia.
And who can forget our witty and wacky relative, “Uncle Beanie.” He
bought, sold, and traded antiques in Scioto County and beyond. As a
kid, I was mesmerized by his house full of goodies. It looked like a
store of treasures. And that man could play a tune on the piano!
Without taking any piano lessons, he learned to tickle the ivories by
ear. His sister, Joyce lived next door. She wore red lipstick and
sparkly jewelry. My cousin Kim and I adored Joyce and thought she must
have been a former movie star.
My grandmother Hila was the queen of the garden. She plowed, planted,
and produced veggies fit for royalty. Her fingers picked, snapped, and
cooked the best green beans in southern Ohio. Snuggling under my
grandmother’s homemade quilts on a cold winter’s night and examining
the different pieces of fabric in the warm daylight are fond memories
of yesteryear. Patchwork quilts lay at the foot of every bed. She used
remnants and scraps of fabric from old clothes and sheets for quilt
pieces. Every homemade quilt told a story. Instead of ink and words,
the fabric’s color, texture, quality, pattern, style, and stitching
give an account of why, what, where, when, and how. Hila hailed from
the backwoods of Kentucky.
In her book, “Appalachian Elegy” (University Press of Kentucky, 2012),
bell hooks wrote of life’s harsh realities in a collection of poems
inspired by her childhood in the isolated hills and hidden hollows of
Kentucky. History lives on when our words are written in a book.
Storytelling in Appalachia is as old as the mountains. Rural folks
gathered together around wood stoves, front porches, hunting campfires,
church steps, garden fences, barn dances, quilting circles, general
stores, and anywhere country people congregated to hear stories. Spoken
stories served the purpose of informing, entertaining, educating,
sharing, and passing down beliefs, values, and ideas.
“Family stories are tales about people, places, and events related to
the members of our immediate family or their ancestors. Family stories
casually chatted about at the dinner table, or regaled again and again
at family gatherings can parallel great epics or notable short stories.
The memorable stories of our lives and of others in our family take on
special importance because they are true, even if everyone tells
different versions of the same event. These tales are family heirlooms
held in the heart not the hand. They are a gift to each generation that
preserves them by remembering them and passing them on.”
www.storyarts.org/.
Melissa Martin, Ph.D., is an author, columnist, educator, and
therapist. She lives in Southern Ohio.
|
|
|
|
