Sharing With the Kids

My grown son and daughter, and I spent the last long summer weekend traveling to a campground in the beautiful Laurel Highland mountains of Southwestern Pennsylvania to meet up with extended family for a long-awaited reunion. The family hadn’t all been together as a group for almost two decades. (To say that I am not a camper is putting it mildly, but more about that in another post.)

Our journey to the Laurel Highlands was made by plane and a four-hour car ride. My kids and I regularly listen to NPR (National Public Radio), and the car is a great place to settle in to become informed and to be entertained.

On this trip, however, the kids asked a question about a job I had in the early part of my career. As I began to share, the radio was turned off and more questions about my career were posed to me. The more I talked about the winding road of my long career, the more I wanted to share with them all the side paths that had shown up miraculously and the people who had invited me to join them on those paths at, seemingly, just the right moments.

It was exhilarating to share all those stories while driving to our destination. I relived my challenges, my accomplishments, my heartbreaks, and my amazing wins. I never realized how interested the kids would be in my career stories, until we had four long hours to spend together in the confined space of the car! How often does that happen in our busy lives?

Upon arrival, I eased my cramped-up body out of the car and had a drink to ease my scratchy throat, but I’m not gonna lie. I felt extraordinary! What a boost it had been to my confidence and well-being just to have told my story, been heard, and been admired! It was wonderful.

It benefits everyone to tell their stories. Every one of us!

Reach out to us today so we can help you tell your stories. We make it fun in our in-person writing salons, virtual life-story writing classes, and our one-to-one sessions. Today is the day. Let’s get started!