let me tell you a story says my grandma...

was sitting around the family table tonight eating with assorted cousins, aunts, uncles as well as the young cousins, nieces, nephews and so on and out came the flood of stories, most of which (who am i kidding), all of which i had heard tens of thousands of times before. but the stories were not being told just for our sake, (grown children), they were being told for the sake of the young kids. and that made me laugh all the more. because those stories were new to them and they were enjoying them as much as we had. in some of the stories, the characters (family members) had passed away but this is a way of remembering and honoring them, and in fact, continuing their story.

for this swap, you will write a family story, true, mostly true, wishfully true or not true at all, but the story has to be one that is part of your family heritage and color. the story should be one that you have heard a million times, but it is still funny, entertaining, sad, inspiring or whatever. it is that story that is often requested, that brings a sigh and "not again" to the glossy eyes of those listening but secretly they love it as much as you do. the story that resurfaces whenever you have a new audience member, it is the story that others in your family know by heart but still it is repeated regularly and you can fill in the blanks when your aunts/parents, cousins get the facts confused or they forget them all together. the story does not have to be about you, but it has to have some significance to your family for some reason.

put this story down on paper and share it with your swap partner . also explain who usually tells the story, in what circumstances the story comes up and so on. if its good enough for your family, then it is good enough for us :)

you can choose to make your swap partner laugh or cry or just entertain them for a few minutes. the length of the story will unveil itself naturally but certainly try to expand more than a few paragraphs. you have some time....who knows what else you will be able to do with the written copy....(distribute it at the next family reunion, frame and give to someone who loves the story as much as you do...put in a card for that special someone in your family and make their day, include in a scrapbook...). if you have bigger plans for the story once it is written down, let your swap partner know that as well.

keep the stories clean, be respectful to your audience, and understand that different families value different types of stories. the swap is international. new swappers welcome, should they have a detailed profile. no no senders. grrrrrrrr

if we want to read/send to more than our four...perhaps we can look at that closer to the sign up date.