When to collect stories: Festive Season 2

Collecting Familore can be an adventure. Every family has its own way of doing things. The way they share their memories, the times at which they tell these memories. Styles may vary but the sharing most often takes place in a time of celebration, a time when members of the family, friends come together.

If you were to select a time for collecting, the Festive Season would be a wonderful choice. It has a unifying thread running through it. Family members and friends make a special effort to be together. Time itself becomes more fluid and we give ourselves permission to relish in each others company.

Remembrances, memories, shared experiences become the reason for being together. The cost is minimal and it may enhance your holidays in ways you cannot imagine.

Whether you invite family and friends to your place or you go to theirs, you can be the collector. There is a magical atmosphere attached to the holiday season. We feel a connection to our past that often is forgotten the rest of the year. The coming ofthe New Year looms heavy on our conciousness. Hopes, dreams, fears and joys remain closer to the surface. Make space in your activities to encourage the telling. Remember to value the stories shared, they are pieces of the puzzle that is your Familore.

Be the teller,

When to collect stories : School Days

If ever there was time to collect stories and record shared memories, back to school is just such a time! No matter our age, no matter where we were, the feeling that something was going to happen haunts us still.

In the fall of 1986 I was studying at York University. In a first brush with the study of folklore I had the opportunity to collect "Yorklore". This was the title I gave to my collection of stories shared by faculty, staff and students about something they had experienced while at York. They were short or longer, they ranged between beliefs stories and anecdotes, humorous or mysterious. I still feel privileged by the tellers generosity in sharing these with me. Here is one such story;

"It was a the winter of 1985.
Three of us were support staff and we spotted
a body outside lying on the snow.
Watching for a few moments
and observing the body was motionless
security was called in to investigate.
Having taken CPR training the staff
still felt ill equipped to deal with an emergency.
Upon arriving the Security guards
quickly assessed the situation while the staff looked
on "safely" from the window.
All were relieved when it was obvious our victim,
whom the staff thought
might be dead, was only drunk.

===========================

Their imagination had wandered
from assault to suicide.
Being dead drunk hadn't entered
the repertoire of victim.
Strictly a sober set !

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What do Realtors say about selling? Location, Location, Location! Collecting stories can take place anywhere; an intimate corner at a Christmas gathering, on the porch while taking in the breeze, during a pancake breakfast with colleagues, an anniversary celebration. The place and time is determined by You and the Teller. You choose when and just record. Take it down in notes, a tape recorder, whatever fashion works best for you. Respect the act of sharing and stay true to the story.

It could be your returning to University or College, or perhaps your child's first day, record the moment, and share the telling,