Category Archives: storytelling

Storytelling for the Sake of Others

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Stories are how we learn. The progenitors of the world’s religions understood this, handing down our great myths and legends from generation to generation. —Bill Mooney and David Holt,Storyteller’s Guide (American Storytelling)

I’m looking forward to this evening. I’ve been invited as a guest to attend an event called Stories! It Takes Roots to Bloom! A year or two ago I was invited to attend this annual event organized by the Steamboat Christian Church . The first time I attended it I thoroughly enjoyed myself, so I am thrilled to be welcomed back.  The night revolves around telling stories orally.

When I gave an author talk at my own church, The United Methodist Church of Steamboat http://www.umcsteamboat.org on May 5th, I mentioned my strong belief in the importance of telling stories to help other people and to preserve culture. It makes no difference what religion you practice because those that relate to what an author has to say will appreciate it.

In my opinion, we all come to our faith (or not) through our own experiences, which is just one point of my memoir “Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.” Some people are exposed to very traditional teachings and some come from unique and varied viewpoints, which makes for an interesting American culture.Click here for Info & Ordering on Sue’s memoir

gift of a lifetime image from Amazon_

Several of our We Write Steamboat members are members of this congregation. They have published their stories in testimony to how their faith has made a difference in their careers. Courtney Diehl, an equine veterinarian shares stories about her dealings with horses and their owners. It is  filled with humor that anyone will enjoy. She also gives an accounting of trying to build a successful practice. At the root of her business is her faith that she will make it as a mobile veterinarian.Click here for info & ordering Horse Vet

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“Doc Dawn” Dawn V Obrecht, M.D. is a physician specializing in addiction. Her first book is about her medical missionary trips to far off places around the world helping  people who have been devastated by natural environmental disasters. She also has other publications that she has written designed to help those struggling with addiction. These are wonderful examples of personal stories told for the sake of others.Click her for info on all of Dawn V Obrechts books

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I’d like to extend a thank you to the Director of Women’s Ministry at the Steamboat Christian Church for inviting me. I am sure it will be an inspirational evening.

Do return on Monday! This blog brought to you by http://www.AllThingsFulfilling.com and author Sue Batton Leonard. For information on Sue’s publication, click on this text.Gift of a Lifetime – Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected

Life in Chapters and Stories

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Cars, beep, beep they pass us by and then it’s time to get down to business. ~ Big Time Rush quotes

The college years! What fulfilling memories I have from 1971 to 1975. The story I recounted a few days ago on All Things Fulfilling, about my notable car in college is just one of the many memories that I like to look back on. If you missed the blog, here is a link to it.http://bit.ly/1q9rlPg.

Not only did I build friendships of a lifetime during my four years at Johnson State College http://www.jsc.edu it was the first time throughout my education that I felt I could establish meaningful student-teacher relationships. Our college town was tiny. We ran into our professors off campus on a daily basis – in the grocery store, at the local ski areas and yes, in bars. Understand that this was decades before the days of Facebook and other social media and that is how we “networked” – face to face. There were only so many public places to meet-up in a remote area.

During the college years I felt as footloose and fancy-free as any other time in my life. It’s a beautiful feeling and the college years are a great time for young adults to discover who they are, what their passions are and what they want to do in life. I wish every individual could have an opportunity to experience living on a campus but with the cost of college sometimes it is prohibitive. So many life lessons are learned when a student lives away from home and in a dormitory with others.

In my memoir I recount a college experience that changed my life forever, abruptly. With that came huge realizations about life. I wrote about this event in Chapter 32 An Awakening. This chapter is an example of why memoir writing is so important. As Karen Armstrong, author of The Spiral Staircase once said, “We should probably all pause to confront our past from time to time, because it changes its meaning as our circumstances alter.” Click for Info on Karen Armstrong books.


Life, like cars, passes by quickly. Sometimes we make stops in our journeys through our different experiences. After the college years came the responsibilities of career, marriage and child rearing. And with those events came more stories!

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Dibden Center for the Arts, Johnson State College, Johnson, Vermont

http://www.jsc.edu

This blog brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, author of A Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.  For more information on my publication, click here Sue’s memoir.

Coping Skills and Economy

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“Entitlement is the opposite of enchantment.” ~ Guy Kawaski

Yesterday after I wrote about my college escapades in my  hand-me-down car, I began thinking of how different life is now for students compared to when I was in college in the early 1970s. My sister and I were very fortunate to even have had a vehicle to share in college because the majority didn’t. We were thrilled to death to have inherited the old “jalopy.”

When the budget was low and we ran low on gas money, we pooled our funds with our girlfriends. Back then, giving credit cards to college students was unheard of – most families operated on a cash only basis. If you had built a good reputation or were good friends with the shopkeeper, sometimes they did extend credit in emergency situations. gas rationing

Back in 1973 it didn’t matter who you were or what kind of car you drove, you were not entitled to having a full tank of gas at anytime of day or night. It was the days of gas rationing. My sister and I had to plan our 500 mile treks home from school vacations very carefully. We could only purchase gas on certain days and at some gas stations there was a 10 gallon limit.

To take things even further – we had to wait in line to use the pay telephone if we wanted to call our parents. And forget calling  on a whim – every telephone call cost dearly.There were no package plans! On Sunday evenings, every two weeks, we called home. And the time allotment had two be split between two talking heads, mine and my sisters.

Do you think young adults in today’s society have the same kind of coping skills as in previous generations? I’d like to hear from you.

This blog brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, author of Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected Sue’s memoir

Hand-Me-Down Memories

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Just living is not enough… one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower. ~Hans Christian Andersen

I don’t think there is a person alive who doesn’t attach memories to the cars they’ve owned. The car my twin sister and I had in college was a hand-me-down from our parents. They thought the Plymouth wagon had seen it’s better days, but we proved them wrong, big time.

Our college friends nicknamed the vehicle the “The Batmobile.” My maiden name is Batton, hence, the moniker made sense! It was one of the most recognizable cars on campus because it was as long and wide as a barge, and our friends could see us coming down the pike from far distances. For me, just seeing over the steering wheel was a challenge.

We carted around as many fellow students as we possibly could, with all their gear, to Stowe http://www.stowe.com and Smugglers Notch Ski Areas http://www.smuggs.com and places way beyond. We’d pack  ’em in like sardines, because seat belts were unheard of in those days. Off we’d head for another day on the slopes. The Batmobile could slurp the gas alright, almost as quickly as it was filled up. And when the fuel gauge finally gave up the ghost we had to keep an emergency gas fund just in case. After all we were only poor college students with limited budgets.

One fall weekend, my twin and I and our girlfriends decided to go hiking on the Long Trail http://www.greenmountaintrail.org (an extension of the Appalachian Trail  www.appalachiantrail.org ). Being typical college students we…. ummmm….sometimes got hair brained ideas. We decided we’d be trail blazers and take the lazy louts approach to hiking. We drove as far as we possibly could up the Long Trail and parked it. The next day when we returned to our car after spending the night on the trail in the cabins, here is a photo of what we were faced with. One of our housemates had gotten wind of our plans, and decided to play a prank. BATMOBILE It was all in good fun, and one of my most dear memories from Johnson State College http://www.jsc.edu. This blog is brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, author of Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.Click for Info & Ordering

Sweetness Contained Within

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If God had intended us to follow recipes, he wouldn’t have given us grandmothers.~ Linda Henley

candy dish

Discover Magazine has a compelling article about the influences our forebears play on the genes of the brain.  Check out this article which gives testimony to whether we grow up to be resilient people or not.

http://discovermagazine.com/2013/may/13-grandmas-experiences-leave-epigenetic-mark-on-your-genes.

Isn’t it funny the things we remember from our childhood? Memories of arriving at my grandmother’s house contain nothing but sweet nourishment within. Her crystal candy dish on the buffet table in the dining room was the first place we’d head after we left her arms of welcoming love.

When my siblings and I take trips down memory lane, we often talk about the candies that could be dependably found in our grandmother’s vessel that held confections. Dependably, the candy dish was filled to the top in anticipation of our coming. Butter mints, spearmint leaves, fruit jellies, nonpareils were among our favorites. And then there was the other candy dish on the coffee table in her living room – that always held the hard candies – such as the candy fruit straws (I wasn’t so fond of those), hard sour balls, old fashioned ribbon candy at Christmas, raspberry hard candy with the soft centers and, of course, my favorite –  lemon drops.

Just thinking about them all is enough to make my mouth water. There was never any limit to how many candies we ate. In fact, my Grandmother was consumed with the thought that we might leave her home without full bellies, and fed us until even our eyes were bulging.

My mother is the same way about nourishing her grandchildren with food and emotional support.She’s prepared day and night to take in any number of them and give them what ever they need.  But, my mother is more of a modern grandmother type. She’s known to her eight grandchildren as ” just their Meems.”

This blog brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, author of  “Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.”

  Sue’s memoir

Grandmothers Apron

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Nature was in her beryl apron, mixing fresher air. ~ Emily Dickinson

apron grandma at the sinkAs a follow-up to the blogs posted earlier in the week,  it sure makes a difference when individuals  have the right teachers, mentors and family support in their lives.

Although Fanny, a character in my memoir,” takes the cake,” in my story, I am very grateful for all of my family. Strong relationships are of fundamental importance. Beautiful memories I have of when all three generations gathered around the dinner table at my grandparents house. Their dining room was small and barely held all of us. What mattered was the wonderful feelings that were felt as we held hands and said grace before dinner. The food was always bountiful and lovingly prepared by my grandmother, as it has always been at my mother’s house.

When I think of my grandmother I think of her  in the kitchen, dressed in her apron. Her sweet disposition was as large as the big apron she generously filled out. Back in her day, women wouldn’t have been caught casually dressed at any time of day or night. Even when her day was spent cooking, she was outfitted in a pretty “house dress,” as she called it, with stockings, shoes with heels (never flats – I don’t think she even owned a pair) and a coating of colorful lipstick which was freshly applied several times a day. She always looked so pretty.

Today I would like to share a link to a blog that has a wonderful poem all about aprons and the magnitude of their importance. http://www.withagratefulheart.com/2007/07/grandmas-apron.html. The poem reflects upon the purpose of aprons other than  utilitarian.

Last fall when I began volunteering in our church kitchen nearly every week serving community dinners, I began getting used  to wearing an apron. A borrowed one from the United Methodist Church Women. The other day I read that aprons are making a come back and there are companies who are updating the apron form with art and style! Here is a link to some cute ones from 4 Generations Studio. http://etsy.me/1mx5ryr. A good gift to put on a Christmas wish list.

This blog brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, author of  Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected. Sue’s memoir

 

“Serving Children of the World”

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It is Tuesday, June 17.  Today I am scheduled to speak with the Kiwanis Club http://www.kiwanis.org/ of Steamboat Springs, Colorado about my new publication “Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.”

kiwanis 2The mission of Kiwanis is “serving children of the world.” I have dreams of reaching children around the world who have health issues through my story. Sick children and their parents need to hear stories of hope. My memoir will uplift many people. And a little humor has never hurt a soul so anyone can enjoy the book. As one reader said “Gift of Lifetime is indeed that…. a story of how the simplest words can have the most impact on our lives…”

There have been many studies in the medical field, in recent years, about the connection between healing and living with a positive spirit and humor. My memoir presents an example of how one person’s outcome in life was affected by having what I consider to be all the right conditions that are necessary to live a fulfilling life despite a very difficult start.

Thanks to the independent publishing industry and the ability to sell books on the internet, my book will reach readers from all over this country and places around the world who will take away from the story the message that we can learn a lot from people of all faiths, color and creed.

My greatest wishes for the book, is that parents around the world will learn of “Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected” and share the upcoming audio book with their sick children to give them hope, and a little laughter to lift their spirits.

As Eleanor Roosevelt once said “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

Thank you Kiwanis Club of Steamboat Springs, Colorado. It’s great being in your company today and I am grateful I am able to share my thoughts with you!

This blog brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, author of Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.Sue’s memoir See you tomorrow on http://www.allthingsfulfilling.com.

 

Friday’s Hush

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Our greatest gift is the thunder of Silence.  ~Joel Goldsmith

It’s the end of the week, and the wisdom of the wordsmith in me says “that’s enough!”

Happy Friday everyone

Do return on Monday to All Things Fulfilling. You’ll be Looking at Lucky and I will tell you how that relates to my life. Some details of my journey weren’t  included  in the memoir Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected, so I’ll share more on this site. Sue’s memoir

Petty’s Pants

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We fell in love, despite our differences, and once we did, something rare and beautiful was created.  ~ Nicholas Sparks

petti pantsHow many of you baby boomers remember wearing “pettipants?” I remember them well. They were popular in the 1960s.

In our house, the mention of “pettipants” got a little confusing. Because the stellar character in my memoir, Fanny, called Scott,  my little brother, “Petty.” So the mention of “pettipants” could have  meant my little brothers breeches! Fanny had a different kind of way of communicating but as she became enfolded deeper and deeper into our family, our lives were enriched many times over as we learned about each others cultures.

I liked wearing “pettipants” to school better than a slip underneath my pleated skirts. They were perfect when cuolottes came in vogue. We used to shop for our “pettipants” in the lingerie department at Hutzler’s, Hochschild Kohns, Stewarts or Hecht Company – Baltimore’s iconic 20th century department stores – many of which are now defunct.

These historic retail establishments were the places people went to shophutzlers towson before the suburban malls began to blossom and spread in the 1970’s. Many of the historic department stores met their demise when that happened.

Michael J Lisicky, author of “Hutzler’s: Where Baltimore Shops” chronicles the rise and fall of some of Marylander’s favorite shopping meccas. For more information on this book, please follow this link. http://www.amazon.com/Hutzlers-MD-Where-Baltimore-Landmarks/dp/1596298286.

baltimores bygone dept stores

Baltimore’s historic department stores hold many memories from my days of growing up and going shopping with my sister and our girl friends.  If you are a baby boomer, no doubt  you have fond memories of the places you frequented when you went clothes shopping, and the fashions that were popular during different eras of your lifetime.

This blog brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, author of Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected, a story of multi-cultural love, faith, healing and life lessons.Sue’s memoir

 

 

 

Writers Face Fears Head On

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“Have you realized that today is the tomorrow you talked about yesterday?  ― Jaachynma N.E. Agu, The Prince and the Pauper

Indeed, I have come to understand that! For many a year I had visions of writing and publishing our family’s story, and it has become a reality. Memoirs are important because they are not just about our immediate family. They often reflect and record a time in history, a culture or religion,  a way of being raised, and the values we pass on to the next generation.

Oh, there were times when I doubted, got discouraged or couldn’t find the right words, but I never let it stop me. Action led to fulfillment of those dreams. I made it happen!

Each time the task seemed daunting or I couldn’t find the right words or hit a road block I’d press on remembering the words of Bill Cosby “Decide that you want it more than you are afraid of it.”

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We published authors overcame our fears and live to tell the story of it!

Welcome-To-Ours-

This blog brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, author of Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.

Sue’s memoir