"There's a story there . . . "

    I have just begun reading a new book . . . J.D. 
Vance's, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis.  While my family did not migrate from the regions of Appalachia and the "Rust Belt" as did the author's own, already I see some parallels between his and many of the people around whom I grew up. That part is still "percolating" for further reflection but one of the sentences that "grabbed" me (in speaking of his grand-mother's sentiment for protecting children): "There's  a story there, though I'll likely never hear it."  (Italics mine)

    Maybe that's a near universal ---  what ?, longing, perhaps.  Are there stories from your own family --nuclear and extended --- that if you knew more of the background and specifics, you would understand a great many matters much more clearly? 

   From my own families, I have some story 'gaps' that I would nominate for 'answers' that likely I will never have: On dad's side: Where did my grand-father (the once aspiring priest) and his bride (the once aspiring nun) live after their elopement; what was dad's  older sister (whom I never met) like; How did they happen to be in White Plains, N.Y. when dad was born ; What 'caused' their divorce and how did they decide who had custody of which child. And for mom's family: what were the backgrounds of her parents and how did they meet; how did losing two children at early ages and a son in World War Two affect the family; how did grand-pa become postmaster in the mill village; what kind of stories did his Civil War veteran father  tell him; and . . . well, I guess the list of questions  could be rather extensive.

   The ancient Carthaginians had a saying to the effect that when an old person dies, it is like losing a library.  My clients frequently lament the untold parts of their legacies.  Yesterday I learned of the death of a close neighbor from years ago.  Over the past 30+ years, our lives had diverged geographically and we met rarely. Remembering the years we had known each other well brought to mind again the awareness that there just are lots of stories that make up the flow of our lives and which because of more immediate cares and concerns tend to be untold. 

     When asked why he continued to write long after his reputation was established, Ernest Hemingway replied that he had lots of stories to tell.  If that  applied to fiction, well, do you have any stories to tell?
         Satchel