Don is my best friend in Toronto. He’s over 80 but still very young at heart. Don is a storyteller non pareils, that’s French for unparallel. I’ve been bugging him to start writing out his stories for a few of reasons. First, they’re often funny. He told me about a man in Montreal who could make up nicknames for anyone, for instance. Have you ever met anyone like that?
Don also talks about his family back in Russia at the turn of the last century, his fantastic wedding story, the honeymoon and many others. Some stories are sad but all of them have that human element that’s missing in gossip or simple jokes. What’s your family history? Are there details in it that only you know?
When Don lived in Montreal, one of his first jobs was offering credit to French-Canadian residents. At that time, the big banks were all English and it seemed they considered Quebecois credit risks. Don would go door to door offering credit chits for a few dollars a week or month. When the chit was paid off, people would go to certain stores and buy merchandise with it. Remember the term ‘layaway’? This was the same principle. Great story, right? But it is also a piece of Canadian history. For a whole bunch or reasons, this story is important to write down, to keep forever.
What’s your story? What’s your history? How did your family get to where you are now? I’m willing to bet that everyone who reads this has at least one, and probably many more, historic bits of information that other people would find interesting.
I’ll write more about what you might want to write about but for now, think of tales your parents or grandparents told you. Once you start writing about one, that should trigger memories about other stories and adventures they might have talked to you about. Don’t wait! Grab a pen or pencil and write it out. For paper, I use the back of junk mail flyers, sheets included with bills, etc. There’s always something to write on in my house.
Comment below. Did this post inspire you to write? I hope so. Let me know.
Cheers!
Brian Mahoney
December 16th, 2024