Five Minute Friday - Story

On Fridays a group of people who love to throw caution to the wind and just write without worrying if it’s just right gather to share what five minutes buys them. While the kids are changing into their swim suits, while the pop corn is popping, while the dog is outside doing his business, while the show cuts to commercial. Just five minutes. Your words. This shared feast. So I know you are asking yourself....How do I get in on this fun?  It is simple. 
Here is how to join: It’s easy peasy, just: Check what the prompt is on Lisa Jo's blog. Write a post in only five minutes on that topic on your blog (or in the comments below if you don’t have a blog). Link over here and invite friends to join in. Using the blue linky tool at the bottom of Lisa Jo's Five Minute Friday post enter your link. It will also walk you through selecting which photo you want to show up in the linky. Your post will show up in the Five Minute Friday linky. The most important requirement for participation: There’s really only one absolute, no ifs, ands or buts about it Five Minute Friday rule: you must visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community. Today's word is:

STORY

GO

As my timer ticks off five minutes all I can think about at this very moment are the lyrics to Blessed Redeemer.  You know that part that goes, "This is my story, this is my song."  My mind is a flutter and I am not sure that I will be able to fence it in today....right this moment it jumps back many years to when my mom would share bedtime stories with my brother and I. Our favorite stories were the ones from the Giant Storybook Treasury and Black Beauty. Reading stories was a nightly ritual and she would read from our beloved books each night.  I would want to hear her read every page in the book....but alas....all we got was one chapter/story for my brother and one for me. 

When my brother died....right after Christmas...the story she read pretty much every night was The Littlest Angel.  I would fall asleep most every night in tears because he looked so much like my brother.  The story was a great healer.  One night my mom read it and I did not cry as much....and I realized that life went on.....and my story was not finished.  Stories have always been an important factor in my life.  I come from a long line of story tellers and we are proud of it.  Stories come at you in many forms in my family.  We sing, we write music, we sit around and share stories....and we love oral tradition.   One of my favorite expressions when something goes very much wrong is, "well that is the story of my life."  When my blogging days began it was started to share stories about dealing with a parent with lung cancer/short term memory loss and a parent with full blown dementia/Alzheimer's Disease.  I needed somewhere/someway to vent.  I found my solution through telling my story.  I have met many people along this road who shared their stories with me and slowly I began to heal.  I have discovered stories everywhere...everyone has one....some I like...some I don't.  A Christmas Story( I am a purist when it comes to Christmas)....you know the one about Ralphie is NOT a favorite story....yet I love Toy Story with Woodie and the gang.  I love the Christmas story being read from the Bible at Christmas as the manger is placed in its place of honor.  I love the stories of Anne of Green Gables, Mary Queen of Scotts, Amish stories, Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, Black Beauty, Jonah, Noah, Jesus, the REAL Christmas Story, Huck Finn(taking a deep breath), and all the rest of the gang.  I love stories. I love hearing my friends and strangers stories.  I love having the chance to ask anyone, so..."What is your story today?"....and then sitting back while the story unfolds.

STOP