Thank You Mrs. Gann

 







      Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be a writer but here I am writing this blog and a soon to be published  book about dealing with grief  from a man's point of view. I never before enjoyed writing even letters to home when I was in the Navy were short. I don't know where this supposed gift came from but my sister Vicky started me on this road seven years ago, I had a desire for my kids and grand kids to know that there was more to their family than what they realized and I wanted them to hear the stories that I could remember. My blog has also turned into a means for my grand kids to know their Grandmother - Linda.
     There have been many people who have read my stories, a lady from England, another from California and friends and relatives, they say I am a good writer. Some of these people could be pulling my leg, you know that is what friends are for, but I don't think my sister would lead me on - she loves me. It could be that they base their statements on the content of the stories and paid little attention to the grammar. I 'm sure my ninth grade English teacher Mrs. Gann would say that I couldn't write, she would base her opinion on my ability to diagram sentences, proper use of  punctuation, nouns,pronouns, verbs and adverbs. Why I was such a good student that I had to repeat the class without much success.
     Mrs. Gann  was successful though because I left her class with a love of reading and the ability to  tell a story. We were required to read a book each month and give a written and oral book report, I could take a book of two hundred pages, write a report of five or six pages and talk about it for an hour. I read Mark Twain's "A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court" and took two days to give the oral report. I never had a problem talking, I could spin a yarn with the best of them.
     Looking back I think story telling may be in my blood. I remember listening to my Grandfather and Uncles on Sunday afternoons as they sat around telling their stories. Grandpa Wade knew how to get the listeners attention, he would have us sitting on the edge of our seat and rolling on the floor with laughter. He had a story for every occasion and they were all true.
     I have no doubt I can write especially if I have something to write about, there are 87 stories and a 100 page book to prove that point but I really think I am more of a story teller, I have a gift of gab and use it quite often. Bad grammar and punctuation aside I enjoy what I am doing, I write stories injected with feeling and passion, I am keeping people alive if only in a memory. My hope is that future generations will find these pages, read the stories I have written and pass them on to others.
     So the question still stands, am I a writer or a storyteller? The decision belongs to you the reader and I think either answer may be correct. Thank you Mrs. Gann, you probably wouldn't give me a passing grade for my grammar but I think I might get an A+ for the content and effort.