Storytelling: A sharing of experiences

It's Easter 1961, and my sister and I receive our new patten leather shoes to go with our new dresses. Our dresses are in the same colours as always, purple for her and green for me. Asked why we had these colours Mom replied, "Green for your eyes and purple for your sister's bold nature."

How and why these determinations were made were not explored.

Holidays can give us more time to reflect. Reflect about a time, a place, a moment when you were entrenched into a story. Take a moment and think back. Think back to a time when you sat quietly listening to someone telling you a story.

Step into that moment. Now look into the eyes of the teller. It may have been your mother or perhaps grandmother answering a question you posed or explaining a particular event about the family and its origins. Try and visualize where you were and what was going on around you. Can you hear the words spoken?

The imagary playing before you are scenes from a life, a life that belongs to your history, your family, they are your familore. These scenes might describe how you came to be part of this family, who you take after and what caracteristics you have that connect you to that member.

Other scenes may tell of moving to a new town, starting a new job and even resettling back home and what it meant to the family.

These and other stories make up familore. Through the telling of these stories we gain invaluable insights into our history, our past and in a way our future.

So the story goes,