“I’ll never forget Mrs. Heller. Because I lived far from school. And I had to walk a long distance. And a lot of it was uphill. And I was a little girl.”
That’s how one story started at “Tell Us Your Stories,” an event at our Columbus Avenue Older Adults Center in June.
With the AC keeping everyone cool during a heatwave, and refreshments available, participants and guests sat around and listened to carefully crafted personal stories. It was the culmination of a 3-month reminiscence, oral history and storytelling workshop facilitated by artist-in-residence Tricia Vita with the support of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s SU-CASA program.
The stories were organized by theme, such as Objects, Home, and Earliest Memories. There were tales about breaking windows while playing stickball, treasuring a set of your mother’s Fiestaware, and meeting your tennis partner—and then husband. Some participants read, while those who were absent or preferred not to read could play recordings of themselves.
Vita recorded the audio to create a SoundCloud page where the recorded stories could continue to live. To her surprise, the participants enjoyed reminiscing in front of a microphone.
“Being in the writer’s room, this was a different—freeing—experience, of speaking it versus writing it. It was a different spirit,” said Maureen Allen Holder, a workshop participant.
One of the goals of the workshop, Vita wrote in the introduction to the book, is simply “making participants realize their memories matter.” Judging by the rapt attention paid to each story, that goal was met.
When the event was over, guests were also welcomed to share their own stories. A physical book with the tales from the workshop was given to all who attended. And as good friends, the participants went to have lunch together and share more stories.
Vita expressed interest in continuing the workshop, and she is not the only one. “I would want this to continue,” said Norma De Jesus, “What if I write my own book? I would owe it to Goddard.”
Oh, and what happened to the little girl who had a long walk to school? She kept getting in trouble with her teacher for being late. She started to dread going to school. But one day she mentioned her mother’s beautiful flower garden. Mrs. Heller wanted to see it, so it was decided that the whole class would visit. They all experienced how long the walk was. Mrs. Heller softened. Later she taught the little girl how to make ceramics, and that little girl—now an Older Adult Center member—still treasures one of the objects she made.