Blog Post #5

Olivia Nordman
February 23, 2018
The Importance of Storytelling

      This week in class we talked about storytelling and how important it is to pass the stories and memories we have down through generations. A few years ago my Great-Grandfather lived with us when he was not able to live on his own anymore. My ancestors were one of the first 5 families that resided in the town that I live in now. They were the ones who founded Sandwich, MA so there is a lot of history there. My Great-Grandfather was born in 1916 so he got to experience more than most people get the chance to. He moved around a lot throughout his lifetime, but towards the end of his life him and his wife came back to Sandwich where they carried out the rest of their lives. Somedays i would spend the morning with him in my kitchen and he would tell me stories of how life in this little town was like when he was my age. To go across town, which is a 15 minute drive for me, would take him hours on his horse and buggy. I found this very interesting and eye opening because I do not really usually think about how easy we have it these days. You can get in your car and drive anywhere, but people 100 years ago did not have luxuries like we did. My Grandpa passed away a few years ago, but all the history and significance that resides in the stories he told me have stayed with me. This shows me the real importance of storytelling because without it we wouldn't know our families history and how life was like for our ancestors.