Everybody Has a Story

I recently had dinner with my cousin, who moved to the area in the last year.  She has taken on several volunteer projects in her building, including writing the community newsletter.  During cocktails, she mentioned that she had interviewed a 94-year-old woman for one of her articles. 

When I asked what the article would be about, my cousin said there ended up being no article after the interview.  Instead, she told me about the conversation with the older woman, which had started because my cousin had gone to take photos of the fountain outside the building and this woman had been there with her helper.  My cousin took the photo for the newsletter with the two women in it and later took copies of the photos to them as a gift.  Both women were thrilled to receive the photos, and the older woman mentioned how happy she was to have a visitor that afternoon because she had been terribly lonely.  My cousin was struck by this and so she stayed and interviewed (had a conversation with) the older woman.  My cousin learned a bit about this woman's background and helped her overcome her loneliness.  She said, "It was nice to hear this woman's story."  And that's just it, everyone has a story.

I was reminded of this again last night as I had dinner with someone I've become friends with over the last six months. He and I went out to watch a hockey game, and over dinner and drinks I learned about his very nontraditional childhood and its effect on his views about religion, politics, work, and relationships.  He shared stories about having grown up relatively poor, his lack of formal education as a child, his father's death, and life growing up in an exotic location.  We barely watched the game because I was so fascinated by this person's totally unique experiences and world view - and the fact that I'd known him for six months and was just now learning all of this - that I couldn't stop asking questions.

And that is why I write.  Because everybody has a story.  I like knowing them, and I love sharing them.