The other day I was visiting with my mother and she had just gotten off a phone call from her friend Frieda Mueller. As we were talking she said she loved it when Frieda would tell stories from when she was young in prewar Germany. We then discussed how important it is to capture those stories. Mom said I hope she has them written down, and I responded yeah, but they are probably in German. Mom then started telling me her own story that she was reminded of by talking with Frieda.
“When I was a little girl, probably around eight, I was in the garden weeding with my grandmother (Elizabeth Maria Moehring whose parents both came from Germany, and German was spoken in their home). As we were weeding, a garter snake came my me and I screamed. My grandmother reassured me ” Don’t worry about him, he is more afraid of you than you are of him.” I remember this like it was just yesterday.”
I don’t think I had ever heard that story before, and if I didn’t share it here, it would probably be lost forever.
Do you have similar stories that are a part of you that would be good to share that haven’t been written down somewhere? What are you going to do about it?