“And then what happened? Well, I’ll tell you how he got out of the trap…” Story teller image courtesy of tommiks at Wikimedia Commons.
Have you ever met someone whose life story would make a great book? I’m not talking about someone famous. I’m talking about the ordinary people you see every day — the elderly woman who stands behind you at the grocery store, the smiling server who provides your latte or tea at Starbucks, or the dedicated dog owners who faithfully walk their dog every morning and evening in your neighborhood.
It’s fascinating to hear what history lies behind these ordinary faces and I often think those stories would make a wonderful book. Because I’ve lived where I’ve lived, I’ve met people from all over…people from Asia, Africa, Europe, South America, Australia and other parts of North America. During a conversation, I’m often treated to their back stories about how they ended up living in this area or visiting it at this point in their lives. One American woman, for example, fell in love with an Irishman and neither wanted to let the other go, so they ended up marrying, having two beautiful daughters and settling in the area where I met them.
I also knew another couple that met during World War II. I’ll call them Mrs. H and Mr. H. As I recall the story, Mr. H was a German pilot, who was captured and held in prison in Scotland. The person in charge of the prison permitted the prisoners a short period of liberty as a privilege and Mrs. H’s father allowed Mr. H to come to dinner since Mrs. H’s father had been decently treated by the Germans during the previous war. Mr. H saw Mrs. H and fell in love, but had to return to Germany later. After the war was over, Mr. H came back to Scotland, found Mrs. H again and married her. Their marriage lasted for several decades.
From what I’ve read in the blogging world, many bloggers incorporate life experiences into their blogs at some point, depending upon the main topics of their blogs. Sometimes the story is about them, sometimes it isn’t. Some stories range from scary to sad and make me think “Oh, boy!”, while others are filtered through a comedic lens and make me laugh.
It’s good to know, however, that although many of these life stories may never be captured in a book, they are preserved online in blogs and available to read. I’ve been privileged to see some amazing back stories from people all over the world and appreciate their willingness to share their history with me.
