When I was a little girl my parents instilled within
me the love for reading. We used to go to the library
once a week and I would read anything and everything I
could get my hands on. Through my reading I learned
the power of storytelling.
One of my most vivid memories was the story that
surrounded losing my first tooth. The morning after I
discovered that my tooth was gone I emerged from my
bedroom to share the story of my own personal tooth
fairy. “Oh mom, she was beautiful! The most beautiful
woman I have ever seen. She had long blonde hair,
emerald green eyes, an emerald green dress with
sequins, and she was very tall.” My five foot two,
brown haired, blue-eyed mother seemed thoroughly
amused by this story and she would have me repeat it
to her friends and especially emphasize how beautiful
she was. Each time I told the story though I would add
another embellishment which I later referred to as
details I had forgotten from before. Sometimes she
carried a wand, sometimes she sat on a cloud, at times
she saw me and smiled, at other times she didn’t. This
story was truly a classic Amy story and family
favorite, but some of my other “stories” were not
quite as amusing. In fact, if you can believe it they
were referred to as lies and I seemed to be full of
these during my youth. They did not have to be
anything in particular; it could simply be where I got
off for my bus stop. The thing was that when I began
my magic-weaving each fabrication would lead to
another. I simply had a talent that no one else seemed
to appreciate.
My imagination never stopped and everything was so
clear in my mind to me that it would take ten minutes
of my descriptions before we could begin playing.
“Okay Cindy, my name is Jessica and you are Elizabeth
(I read a lot of Sweet Valley Twins at the time). So
my boyfriend is Todd and you are with your boyfriend.
I am wearing a beautiful prom dress and it is cut like
so (demonstration of the actual cut). It is red and it
is beautiful. You are wearing a pretty dress too….”
This is where I would pause so that my sister could
get a chance to describe her dress. Then we would
slow dance with our boyfriends which amounted to us
dancing with each side of the doorway. If these times
of set-up before we could play ever bothered my sister
she never shared it.
My imagination is still going strong although the
lying has stopped. My family now refers to my “art” as
exaggerating or being theatrical. Naturally with a
gift such as mine theatre was the best way to use my
talent for good rather than evil.
Now at this point in my life my imagination takes me
different places. I now imagine who my son will
become, who he will marry, what career path he will
choose, and what he will think of his mother someday.
I also imagine for myself what I will become when I
grow older. There are so many career paths I want to
explore. I have always wanted to be in the health
field, I imagine continuing my path in insurance and
working my way up to the “boss-lady”, or I imagine
just devoting time to theatre and becoming the local
diva that I have always wanted to be.
My imagination and storytelling will never cease and
now I embrace this part of myself. Maybe someday when
Ethan gets a little older I can instill within him a
love for storytelling. To top it off, he will have
such a fun and imaginative mom to play with…that is if
he can sit through ten minutes of mommy’s preparation
time.
Someday I envision myself as a little old lady sharing
stories of my youth to my grandchildren. I will use my
old age to my advantage and fabricate beautiful
details into an otherwise boring grandma story. I will
add this magical touch that will hold their interest.
I figure that by that time they will just think that I
am old and have forgotten the real and true details of
the story. Or maybe they will become so enraptured by
their grandmother’s stories that they will dare to
dream and imagine too. And we will all discover
together that the beauty of a great story will never
end as they someday share them with their children.
_______________________________________________________
Amy is a stay-at-home mother of a one year old son.
She is founder and creator of
http://www.momadvice.com
Her web site is geared towards mothers who are
seeking advice on staying organized, living on a
budget, and for those seeking work-at-home
employment.
The author resides in Granger, Indiana and her
hobbies
include reading, writing, cooking and cake
decorating.
Please visit her web site for more information on
these various topics for mothers and be sure to join
the forum where your opinions and ideas count.
