Neely-Dorsey: Southerners Are Great Storytellers!

November is Family Stories Month. It is a time to reflect on the silly, funny and serious stories that help define our families.

These family shared stories helped us Southerners understand who we are. Some are small anecdotes that bring happy memories of a person or a moment in days past. But all stories, small or large, are important. And they are all worth sharing.

Every family has thousands of stories. Most of us could write an epic novel based on a few family members’ personal stories alone!

Many of us Southerners grew up hearing stories from our parents and grandparents on what they did and how they lived when they were younger. Telling these stories will remind us what has shaped our lives and give younger listeners insight into their own family trees.

Family History Month is a great time to explore and share our ancestry.

Collecting and sharing family stories is a wonderful activity for the whole family. This month is a good time to encourage the kids to write down many stories that you and other relatives in the family have to tell. They can collect pictures, interview family members, write stories and even create a book from the collected stories.

This month is also a great time to sit down with older relatives and ask them about their stories. You will undoubtedly learn something about them. When loved ones pass on, their stories will keep their memory alive. Sharing family stories creates a tradition that can last for generations.

I am so blessed that my family has always been full of storytellers. From the time that I was so young, I can remember that at every family gathering, after the traditional family meal, the storytelling would begin.

This tradition remains the same to this day. I have made many family stories as well as my own personal stories into poems found in my books Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia and My Magnolia Memories.

Patricia Neely-Dorsey is the author of two books of poetry, Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia-A Life In Poems and My Magnolia Memories and Musings-In Poems. Through her poems, the author hopes to protect, preserve and promote the rich cultural history and heritage of her state and region along with providing more positive images than all of the negative images usually portrayed. Patricia lives in Tupelo with her husband James, son Henry and Miniature Schnauzer, Happy. The author has been named a Goodwill Ambassador for the state by Governor Phil Bryant. Her slogan is “Always, Always Celebrating the South and Promoting a Positive Mississippi ” Her website is www.patricianeelydorsey.com and her email is magnoliagirl21@yahoo.com.