Family tales told again, and again , and . . .

       "I've heard that story a million times !" followed the re-telling of a long ago event when the extended family gathered for the holidays.

       Among other tales, there was the recounting of very young Chandra's question to Mal and his "Lord, God, that young'un asked me . . . "  Joseph enjoys recounting his overhearing dad's muttering under his breath as mom shouted out yet more instructions from a distance. Caryn remembers mom's delight in telling how she carried her from the hospital after her birth and how important that had been for grand-mother. My mother alleged that her first-born eventually inquired about the new child in the house: "When are you going to take that kid back to the hospital?" Mom's sole surviving sibling, ten years younger than she, has regaled the family with anecdotes of her sister's early years. Everyone seems to  have their favorite.

   Recently, I reread a comment from Joan Chittister's
The Gift of Years, that I like:  "Family tales have always been the parables one generation handed down to the next to tell us who we are and where we came from."  Paradoxically, along with the grief, such tales are often repeated at the time of family deaths.  "Do you remember the time when . . . " or " Grand-daddy told me . . . ".  

  Inter-generational stories can be warm, humorous, and 'heart-gladdening.'  Others  can be reminders of deep hurts. Many years ago I conducted a funeral for a man who likely still had the first dollar he ever made.  While visiting with his family after the service, his older daughter remarked, "Daddy was tight."  I offered, "Don't say he was 'tight', say 'thrifty'." She drew herself  to full stature, clenched her jaw and almost spat, "Tight !!"

    A brother suggested that I write a kind of family history to pass on to our children, grand-children, and subsequent generations.  Well, maybe. 

   What are your many-times-told tales ?

   
       Satchel