Family Stories

Family Stories

When thinking of family stories most people will think of their grandmother or mother telling them a story of another family member or a story of their own youth. These stories, as far as I can remember the stories of my own family, are like parables and they are intended to teach us an important lesson for our life or make us familiar with the history of our family, which helps us to form our identity. At least as far as my family is concerned only the good members of the family were covered and their strive or luck in improving their and our families lives.

Me, as well as the narrators in Family Stories, remember them as a part of our childhood something we grew up with and reminds us of the time we spent with beloved persons. It seems that these stories are just told by the female members of a family and they are often linked with cosy memories of our grandmother's kitchen and the smell of the delicious food she cooked there. In addition to the genes we share with our family, we are bestowed the knowledge that our family shares and is only orally passed from one generation to another.

However, there are stories nobody will tell us. Those of the family's black sheep. They are often omitted to avoid misleading us. Sometimes as we grow older we may come across one of those stories, but when asking to be told the story, the family might refuse to tell the whole story and just gives us a glimpse at it. There are various why they might neglect us this knowledge. It can be too painful for them, because their feelings are hurt or they might be ashamed because they also made mistakes when dealing with one of our 'not so beloved' family members. May it as it be. These were the stories that interested me most of all. Nobody was willing to hand them to me on a silver platter. It was thrilling to search for those secrets and sometimes it can take years to put together the puzzle.