FRIENDSHIP | RESILIENCE | DESIGN
My Favorite Story Straight Out of a Dumpster
I love it when great stories happen to family and friends
Although I love telling stories, I equally enjoy hearing stories. I’m grateful to have friends and family members who are great storytellers. Some are so good at it I’ll ask them to tell me a story I’ve already heard, multiple times, and laugh at every telling. I literally get goosebumps when one of them says, “Oh, I’ve got to tell you what happened…”
I have to admit that I’m a good audience. My listening skills are on point — always have been. They came in quite handy being a counselor for so many years. True confession: hearing from clients about life’s challenges and triumphs was the best part of my job. The arc of a story and real life characters offered intrigue that may or may not have found their way into screenplays I’ve written. Shhh, don’t tell.
My sister, Lisa, knows about my love of a great story. When she senses a good one developing in something she’s doing, she’ll share it with me so we can pay attention to how it plays out. Our lively imaginations explore all the possible outcomes as a form of self-teasing. And we always end with a cliffhanger. Try it. It’s fun. We both will say in unison, “What’s going to happen?!”
