Who wants to read what I have to say?

At the end of the phenomenon that is HAMILTON, the question is asked, “Who will tell your story?”  What a profound question!  My husband, son, and I saw HAMILTON on Broadway only a few weeks after my beloved brother unexpectedly passed away in 2016, and that question has come back to me over and over again.  I was determined to not only tell my brother’s story, but also my own.  It has taken a long time for me to decide to transfer all the memories, thoughts, opinions, and fun things circulating in my head onto what passes for paper these days.  I started diaries many times as a child, began journals, especially when my son was born, wrote a handful of letters to him through the years, and have kept notes on pieces of paper, napkins, backs of programs, church bulletins, and anything else I could find to scribble something I did not want to forget, or let pass by without a chance to ponder it later.  I was born in the mountains of North Carolina, into a family of storytellers.  In my family, after a meal, everyone sits around the table with a second cup of coffee, and tells and retells family stories.  As kids, my brother, sister, and I would beg my parents to tell the same story again and again. Sometimes Daddy would get his guitar, and sing songs we had heard over and over.  The stories never grew old.  My friends now tell me that I have a story worth telling.  One of my favorite people in the world began writing down her stories shortly after her mother passed away, and considers it a part of her healing in dealing with her grief.  She has told me for years that I need to write some of my stories down. She even jumpstarted me on this road, and has been infinitely patient in moving me forward.  Well, Kelly, the old mule has finally started moving!  I don’t have any idea if anyone will want to read what I have to say, but I have decided that this is a gift I want to give to my son.  I want to be the one to tell him MY stories, so that he can pass them on, or if he chooses, just keep them in his heart.  And if he is the only one who reads them, that will be fine with me too.