What's a story worth?

On my way home from school my first winter driving, I lost control of my '61 Corvair and slid into the ditch about half a mile from our farm. Leaving the car half buried in snow, I walked home and asked Dad if he would help me pull it out.

"Oh, the roads are too icy," he said with a straight face, "It will just need to stay there until spring."

Not what I wanted to hear since I liked driving the eight and a half miles to school much better than taking the school bus with the "little kids." But what could I do?

A couple days later, I got off the bus to find my car in the driveway. I never got the expected lecture about driving more carefully from Dad. But I've driven with greater care on icy roads ever since.

I rarely mention commercial products in this blog, but I received an unusual Father's Day gift this year that other readers may find of  interest.

My children signed me up for StoryWorth. This service sends questions (what we English teachers would call writing prompts) each week to the recipient. One has a week to complete the narrative which is then returned to StoryWorth. The stories along with any accompanying photos are compiled at the end of a year into a print book.

So far my questions have been:

• How did you feel when your first child was born?
• What would you consider your motto?
• What fads did you participate in when growing up?

The gift givers may create their own questions and the writer may opt out of any question. There is no standard length of response. 

While I am a fairly prolific writer, I've tended to stick to exposition rather than narrative. But I certainly recognize the power of good stories and have used them to help explain a concept or argue a position. So while I will never write a best selling novel, I have had some practice in telling a story, including a few tall tales.

This will be an interesting task, testing my memory, my empathy (what would my children actually like to know), and my own honesty. As Mary McCarthy observes, "We are the hero of our own story." Like most people, I have lived a life of which I am both proud and ashamed, filled with both happy memories and sad regrets. Over the course of the year, I suspect some of each may be related.

Oh, and at my daughter's request, I may throw in a few exaggerations.

Thanks, kids. Wonderful present!

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