The Power of Stories

Growing up I would always hear my Grandpa, better known as Papa, tell these incredible stories that just had people hanging off his every word. He could make people laugh and make them have a great day just by telling these stories about his life. Those stories are some of my best memories. Because of him, I learned the power of telling stories.

One afternoon at the annual family reunion I saw the usual circle of family telling jokes and stories back and forth, making everyone laugh. So I walked up to my Papa and asked if I could give it a shot. I took a deep breath and told my story.

I was around ten years old and visiting my grandparents at the family cabin. Standing at the end of the dock, I was holding on to a fishing pole, trying my best to actually catch something. I took a step forward without realizing that I really was at the very end of the dock. Falling into the water, I was at least grateful that I was wearing my swim suit. When I finally got out of the water and retrieved the fishing rod, I found out that my uncle had caught a blue gill. Turns out that he couldn’t do the whole catch an release, because when I fell into the water I shocked the fish into inhaling the hook and it got so deep that it couldn’t be released.

When I got done telling my story everyone was laughing and some were having a hard time staying in their chairs because they were laughing so hard. The thrill I got from making everyone laugh and happy was great. That moment made me even more determined to achieve my dream of becoming a published author.