Storytelling and Healing

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=195 BGCOLOR="#663366" TEXT="#080000" background="044c6172dkcfuy.gif"> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#CC99CC" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#663366" FACE="Arial" >Wisdom Tales</FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#663399" FACE="Times New Roman" >    </FONT> |    <B> </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#6633CC" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Wisdom Tales"><U><B>home</B></U></A></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Story of the month "><U>Story of the month </U></A>   |   <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="TellMeAnuda "><U>TellMeAnuda </U></A>   |   <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Holiday Tips"><U>Holiday Tips</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bibliography"><U>Bibliography</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Previous Stories"><U>Previous Stories</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Stories for Peace 9/11"><U>Stories for Peace & 9/11</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U>Links</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id16.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Articles"><U>Articles</U></A>   |   <B>Storytelling and Healing</B></div> <div> <IMG SRC="04af0030.gif" border=0 width="496" height="3" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Storytelling and Healing</div> <bR> <bR> <div> December-January 2001-2002</div> <div> This winter story and follow-up discussion address issues of loss and grief, and the value of sharing family stories, and memories in the healing process. </div> <bR> <div> Just Enough...  A traditional tale from Russia </div> <div> Adapted by Elisa Pearmain   </div> <bR> <div>    Once upon a time there lived a tailor's son named Joseph. He worked beside his father in his little shop cutting and stitching clothing for the wealthy folks in town. As he grew older Joseph began to dream of making something special for himself to wear. He pictured a warm coat made of colorful fabric. For many years he saved the few coins that he got from helping his father. Finally he had enough to buy the cloth that he wanted.     </div> <div>     Joseph went to the market and bought the piece of cloth he had been dreaming of. It was a warm gray with bits of gold and silver and even a little crimson here and there. That night while his father was sleeping, he went to the shop. He laid out the pieces of fabric, and made a careful plan. He measured, then he cut and he stitched. After several nights of working, the young man had made himself a fine coat. When the tailor saw the work his son had done he felt proud. “You are a tailor now in your own right,” he said. “You have done fine work.” Joseph loved his coat. It was warm and colorful and everyone looked at it. He wore it everywhere, and the seasons past.</div> <div>     One afternoon when Joseph had been buying cloth in the market for his father, it began to rain. It was a cold rain. People were running. He saw a young woman, about his age. She was wearing only a thin shawl to keep her from the cold. She looked so sweet that Joseph took off his coat and offered to let her wear it home. She liked his face too, and within two years Joseph and Anna were married.  </div> <div>      Joseph made his own tailor shop in the basement of their small apartment. He continued to wear his coat. He wore it, and he wore it and he wore it, until he had worn it out. What a sad day that was as he held his coat up, turning it round. He spoke to Anna in a sad voice, “This old coat, it has meant so much to me, it was my first dream come true, it made my father proud, it helped me to meet you, but now there is nothing left, nothing…” </div> <div>        But then he stopped, “Heehee”, he laughed out loud, “There is something left, just enough…” and instead of throwing the coat in the rag bin, he took it to his workbench and he began to measure, and to cut and stitch. By morning, he had made a lovely jacket. </div> <div>     He loved that jacket. He wore it everywhere. Soon his wife gave birth to twin girls. When they were a year old he looked outside one night and saw the first snowflakes falling. “Come on girls,” he said, picking them up and tucking one into each side of his jacket and buttoning them in. “We will go taste the first snow flakes of winter.” The girls laughed in amazement as the big flakes melted on their noses and tongues. Joseph was so happy; he danced round and round holding his two darlings under his warm jacket.</div> <div>    Yes, he loved that jacket. He wore it for years. He wore it and wore it and wore it, until one day Anna remarked to him that it was all worn out. That was a sad day as he held the jacket up. “Old jacket, you've meant so much to me.  I'll never forget how I danced with the twins in the first snow. But there is nothing left, nothing….”</div> <div>    But again he stopped, “ Heehee, what is this I see? There is just enough here, just enough.”  And instead of throwing the jacket into the rag bin, he went to his workbench and began to measure, and to cut, and to stitch. In the morning he had made a cap. It was a lovely cap with a small brim and a lining to keep his head warm in winter.</div> <div>     He loved that cap. He wore it everywhere. Time past and then his girls were thirteen years old. It had been a hard year. There was a famine in the land, the crops were poor, even the rich were not buying new clothes. The tailor's family had very little to eat, mostly potatoes, cabbage, or a carrot from Anna's garden, but never anything sweet.</div> <div>    One day they went into the forest at the edge of the town to collect firewood. All of a sudden Anna began shouting, “Berries, come see all of the berries!” The family stuffed their faces with berries, but there were still more. “If only we had something to carry them in, I would make a pie.” Anna said. What did they have to carry them in?  Joseph's cap! The cap was filled to brimming with beautiful black berries. Their purple juice left a permanent stain, but the taste of a berry pie after so much hunger was worth it. </div> <div>     The years went by again and Joseph continued to wear his hat until one day, he looked at it, and he realized that it was all worn out. He held the cap, turning it round, “Old cap, you've meant so much to me, but now there really is nothing left, nothing, Heehee,” he laughed. “There's enough here, just enough.”  Instead of throwing it away he went to his workbench and cut and stitched, until he had made a bow tie.</div> <div>     What a handsome bow tie it was. He wore it everywhere. He wore it to his daughter's weddings, and the births of his grandchildren. When his first grandson was old enough to speak he sat on Joseph's lap and played with his bow tie. “Grand Papa you have a butterfly on your shirt”, the boy cried. From then on every time he played with the grandchildren he would take off his bow tie and pretend that it was a butterfly.</div> <div>     One day when Joseph's hair had long been gray, he came home from the market and took off his coat. “Where is your bow tie?” Anna asked him, for he was never without it. He felt for it, but it was gone. “It must have fallen off.” As fast as his old legs would let him, he jumped up retraced his steps through the market place. He went back to every shop asking at each stall. Everyone knew of his bow tie, but no one had seen it. “I won't give up,” He told Anna. “I have to find it.” It was not until late in the night that Anna was finally able to guide old Joseph home, sad and weary. He got into bed without his supper.</div> <div>      The next day he refused to get up. “What's the use,” he said, “My bow tie, is gone. The cloth that I loved is gone, now there is nothing left. Nothing. I have been through so much with that cloth, I feel as if I have lost someone near and dear.”  Joseph did not hear it, but now it was his wife who laughed quietly. She put on her shawl and went to her daughter's homes. “Bring your children,” she said. They all came and plopped down on the bed. “Oh I can't play today,” said Joseph, “I am too sad, I have lost my bow tie, I have lost so many dear memories.”</div> <div>     “Tell us about the cloth dad,” said one of his daughters, “Your grandchildren do not know all of the stories.” “Oh, it is too sad.” He said. “Please Grand Papa,” The children begged. “Alright, I will” he said slowly. He told them about making the coat, and making his father proud. He told about putting the coat over the young woman in the market and meeting his wife. He told about dancing in the snow with his two young babies. He told about the cap full of berries. As he recalled all of these memories the tears fell slowly down his cheeks. He told about wearing the bowtie to his daughter's weddings and the births of his grandchildren. And his eldest grandchild chimed in, “You made your bow tie into a butterfly Grand Papa. Maybe it flew away.”</div> <div>    Old Joseph was quiet for a while. “Yes, it seems that my beloved bow tie did fly away, but you have helped me to see that the memories I have that are so dear to me did not. There were just enough memories left in this old noggin to make a story. And that story will never be lost if you will help me keep it.” Then Joseph the Tailor hugged his family close and got out of bed. His story was passed down through many generations.</div> <bR> <div> Sources: There are many oral and written versions of this old Jewish folk tale. I believe that I first read it in <I>Just Enough to Make a Story</I>, by Nancy Schimmel, l972, (Berkley: Sister's Choice Press, l986).</div> <bR> <div>      I share this tale in several venues. One is with family audiences during my Family Storytelling workshops. When I share the story with family groups we go on to share stories that are meaningful to us related to objects, and then expanded to include a number of other themes, including whatever a person wishes to share.</div> <div>      I also share it on the inpatient psyche and addictions unit where I work, particularly around the holiday times when people are feeling the loss of loved ones who have passed on, and of relationships that have changed. After telling the story in the therapeutic setting, I ask people to talk about how the story made them feel. Then if they have not already told me so, I ask if it reminded them of a loss that they had experienced. Then I talk about losses and how they particularly effect us at the holiday time, and why, and ask each person to share how this is for them, and what things they do to manage feelings that are most helpful. Then I offer suggestions orally and in writing (see the list below) for managing loss at holiday times. It is not uncommon for patients to refuse to talk about a loved lost loved one for fear that it would open the gates of unmanageable pain. Here is another place where a story could provide courage by example.</div> <div>     The story also has value for people who are anticipating the anniversary of the loss of a loved one. Many of our patients come into the hospital because they do not think that they can manage the flood of feelings and anxiety that happens as an anniversary approaches. Sometimes it seems that their ability to hold their feelings of loss changes little from year to year. This is partly because it is grief complicated by trauma, and mental illness, and partly I believe because they have not been able to process their grief. Stories can serve as a coping and processing tool. </div> <bR> <div>    <B>Why is the holiday time the source of so much grief?</B> </div> <div>     In an email to the author, Storyteller Karen Chace wrote that, “It takes the turn of a year, where we travel through each of the seasons with the attendant holidays before we feel as if we're truly beginning to heal through the grieving.” There are certain times of year when we are even more aware than on average days that someone is no longer with us. We reflect on what life was like when they were with us, and become even more aware of their absence. These can be actual holidays or changes in season, or events special only to a family, such as birthdays, and anniversaries. </div> <div>     Most people like to follow traditions at holiday time. Traditions have often come down through time, through the generations, they are often tied to satisfying, vivifying religious beliefs, and they are also times when people come together and we are reminded that we belong to a group. Tradition usually means doing things with certain people year after year. Human beings take comfort in repeating traditions. They give life order, and enhance meaning. When people die, or move, or divorce, traditions change and there is an empty space. The effect of this can be that family cohesion is lost. People play different roles in traditions and rituals. When they are gone, these often change. Starting over or continuing requires new leadership and hard work. When traditions are lost, there is a sense of emptiness and disconnection from others. It can bring on a depression or manic episode. </div> <div>     Storyteller Mary Clarke suggested in an email that there are times when a grieving person decides that they need to stop celebrating a holiday after a loss, and that while it is painful for others, it is best to accept that person's feelings and be supportive of them. This creates a double loss for those around them. But she also mentioned that this can be the start of new traditions that have deeper meaning for those who practice them. </div> <div>     Anticipating the holiday is often harder than the event itself. Things won't be the same and we know it. We may feel dread, or expect to be overwhelmed by grief. Often we are afraid that we will ruin the holiday for others because we aren't able to be cheerful. Many people feel ashamed or angry that they cannot feel the “holiday spirit,” that our culture pushes on us from every angle. There are ways of planning to manage our grief that can help. </div> <div>      </div> <div> <B>What is my goal when working with someone who is grieving?</B></div> <div>      First of all, when working with those who are grieving, we are not seeking to take away their grief. I don't think this would feel right even if it could be done. Grief itself is a connection. What we are doing is helping people to integrate this loss into who they are, and how they understand life, and to make a new relationship with the deceased loved one, or situation that is gone. We can help them to connect to and develop new parts of themselves, and to find new sources of companionship.</div> <bR> <div> <B>How can a story like this one help to accomplish this goal?</B> </div> <div> It helps us to keep or forge a new relationship with the lost loved one through re-collecting (collecting again) our shared stories. It reminds us that we have not lost everything. That as long as we have memories, and people to share them with, we have not lost the person completely. We have them in a different form. When we use our imagination through story telling we can experience images and emotions that provide a strong experience of connection. As we grow older, more and more of the people who made our lives what they were, will live on in our memories. </div> <div> Stories connect us to others. As we take part in a story sharing we realize that other people's stories are our stories too, and that they connect us to people whose lives shaped our life through the generations. With someone to hear our stories we are not alone, and our pain is not borne alone. </div> <div> Stories can model the experience of grief, normalizing it. Joseph cannot accept his loss initially. He bargains. Finally he accepts that his tie is really gone. He takes to his bed. He suffers the deep mental and physical depression of grief. He loses hope and purpose. Then with help of family members he begins to tell the story, remaking his relationship to the lost object, and finding that it still lives within him. It becomes more of a spiritual relationship as he acknowledges that the physical part of the tie has flown away, but not the memories of the joy it brought him. </div> <div>      This modeling through story can help those who have not yet experienced a deep loss to try on the feelings, and to move through them. It can be a model for them to normalize their own experience in the future. By focusing on the object in his story we can stay objective while feeling his pain. The story can also help those who are attending to a loss by reminding them that with creativity and love there are ways to transform pain.  </div> <div> A story spoken out loud also loses some of its danger and darkness. Visiting an experience or an emotion through story is like shining a light into a dark closet. The boogiemen are seen for what they are, and they are not as infallible as we thought. Many people suffer from difficult emotions like guilt, regret, and anger when someone dies or leaves.  Keeping these to our selves out of shame or fear, allows them to grow and fester, until they take up larger and larger spaces in our psyches. These emotions are a normal part of grieving any loss. Through telling them as part of our story we can reality check them with others, normalize them, and take away their power over us. Often we can help to facilitate this type of story if we ask the person to tell us about the experience leading up to the death itself. </div> <div> As listeners to someone else's stories, we realize that we <U>can</U> help; just by listening, and being a witness.  </div> <bR> <div> Here are some suggestions for coping with loss through the holidays that I give to my patients. Some of them are directly story related while some are not. I would love to hear your suggestions to add to this list. These include suggestions made by HealingStory list serve members and others. Thanks so much. </div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div>  Coping with Loss Through the Holidays</div> <div> (You could reprint this as a poster or handout).</div> <bR> <div>     The holiday season is upon us once again. If we are experiencing challenges or losses in our lives this can be an especially difficult time. Here are some ideas for managing stress and practicing self-care during the holiday season. </div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">This is a very important time to stay healthy. Get plenty of rest, eat well, sleep well, and take your medications. Avoid alcohol and drugs, or keep them to a minimum. You'll feel better. Grief and healing require a great deal of physical and psychic energy. Take care of yourself. </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Make a plan for what you will do on the actual holidays. Include activities that are pleasurable, and relaxing, such as:</div> <div> Finding and playing music that you love.</div> <div> Renting a stack of funny and engaging videos. </div> <div> Going for a walk out of doors. Taking a bath. Doing yoga.</div> <div> Dancing, painting, writing poetry, or reading a favorite story or book. </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Make sure that you are with people with whom you can be yourself, and tell the stories that you need to tell. You may need to cry, and it must be ok to do so.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Discuss your fears and disappointments related to the holidays with your therapist or a trusted friend. Gather support around you. Many people experience loss in the form of disappointments at the holiday time when relatives and friends do not choose to join with them, or when traditions are broken.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Take time to remember loved ones who have died with new rituals that you create, including <B>storytelling rituals</B>:</div> <div> Ask each person to bring and share a favorite memory about a person.</div> <div> Hang a stocking or wrap a box for the person who is no longer there and have each person put something into it, such as a favorite memory, a prayer, or poem. </div> <div> Make a place for that person at the table and talk about what they used to bring to, or love about that holiday time. Or make a place card for them and put it by their picture nearby the table, or on the table. </div> <div> Let any children involved decide on creative ways that they want to include the lost loved one in a holiday. Children often know what they need to satisfy their needs. One child for instance had family members write letters to a Grandmother who had recently died, and then they instructed each person to burn them in the fireplace so they would reach her in heaven. </div> <div> Look at pictures of the loved one and let them lead into stories.</div> <div> Assemble a memory book relating to the loved one with your relatives and give them out as presents, or assemble them together from each person's contribution.</div> <div> If it is too painful for people to story tell out loud at first, have a silent time for each person to think of their loved one. This may become a tradition!</div> <div> Read or tell stories or poems that your loved one found especially inspiring and comforting. That way their voices will continue to contribute to your lives. </div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Find out what support groups meet on holidays. AA, churches, synagogues, etc. and hospices often organize meetings and activities. You don't have to be alone.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Don't do things because you think you should. Explain to people that this year you need to take it easy and there may be some things that you just are not up to.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Delegate responsibility. Let someone else shop, cook and address those envelopes. Shop over the phone. Give people creative gifts such as a favorite poem or photograph, or a hug.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Decide to skip the holiday altogether the first year if this is easier for you. </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Explore the spiritual and or religious aspects of the holidays and let the commercial ones go this year. </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Make a list every night of all the little and big things you can be grateful for that you experienced that day. Gratitude and peace will grow in your heart.  </div> <bR> <bR> <div> The McCarthy-Towne School Project</div> <bR> <div>     This year has brought an exciting new project to my life. I was asked by a school in a neighboring community to come in and gather stories of the school, and to share them over six assemblies this spring, with a final “best of McCarthy-Towne stories”, performance for the community at the end.</div> <div>    The reason the school asked for my services, is that they are about to under go a major transition. After 31 years as an alternative school with the same Principal they have lost their Principal to retirement, and are being forced by the town to move to a modern school building that they will share with another school. Their school building will be torn down.</div> <div>    The McCarthy-Towne is a K-6 public school that started up in l971 as an alternative public school. The principles that they started with are, for the most part, still in place today: The teachers and students are on a first name basis. They do not foster competition, but cooperation. To this aim they do not play competitive sports, they do not have school competitions, or grading, and teachers, parents and students are involved in planning curriculum and running the school. Project Adventure started at McCarthy-Towne many years ago. Arts are integrated into all aspects of the curriculum which is child driven.</div> <div>    This has been a wonderful experience for me to be asked into such a thriving and committed community. The goal of my storytelling is to try to ease and honor the grieving process that must happen when any community is in transition. By collecting and sharing stories of events that have happened over the last 30 years, I help to mythologize the school for the students. By asking for the stories I help the teachers and staff to remember the events that have made the school community special for them. The stories also help to define who they are as a community and what their values are.</div> <div>    <B>   </B></div> <div> <B>How did I collect the stories?</B></div> <div>    The story gathering was helped by the fact that the Principal had just retired and someone had made a list of memories to share at his goodbye supper. Then we arranged a meeting to include the Principal over an hour and a half period in the middle of the day to cover all of the teacher's lunch breaks. We sat in the acting Prinicapl's office and teachers came in three groups staying about 30 minutes each, with the two Principals staying the whole time. Wonderful things happened when a teacher in an early session would raise a vague memory and a teacher in a later session would be able to fill in the details. </div> <div>    I came with a sheet of memory prompts for the teachers. As it turned out they needed little of this as there were enough people in each session who had been around for quite a while or who enjoyed reminiscing. </div> <div>    Later we had a session in which we invited people who had left the McCarthy -Towne but who had been movers and shakers in their own time. </div> <div>   I tape recorded and wrote things down as the teachers spoke.Later when I decided which stories to include in a particular assembly I would re-contact particular people and interview them either in person or over the phone. I found the tape recordings especially helpful. In my story shaping I was able to retain the language and tone of the tellers which reflected the school spirit. </div> <bR> <div> <B>How did I shape the tales for telling?</B></div> <bR> <div>    My first challenge was to shape tales that would be interesting and appropriate for grades K-6, and that would work well for an audience of 600 kids plus teachers in a gym. I soon realized as I listened to the stories and began to gain a sense of this wonderful community was that I did not feel comfortable as an outsider to tell their tales. Therefore I had to find a persona who could tell the stories as someone who had been there and seen it all.</div> <div>    One of the common characteristics of many of the stories in this school is the abundance of animal tales. This includes both animals that were classroom pets, and those uninvited guests of old buildings. Thus was born the idea of being a mouse who came upon the school when it was first opening and has dwelt all these long years behind the bookshelf in the Principal's office. The mouse has insights into things that happened at the school at night, and an insider's view on the perspectives of other animals in the school who are the subject of many of the best stories. Thus Mattie was born. A female, white footed, deer mouse who spent the first year of her life raising 8 litters of babies in an old tree on the school property. Mattie decides that 8 litters is enough for any female at this time of women's liberation and becomes a celibate story keeper for the school. I don't include the part about celibacy.</div> <div>    For each assembly I decided to have a theme. Sticking together, love stories, disasters, mysteries, tricks and pranks, school wide projects and happenings, field trips. </div> <div>   </div> <div>    <B>How did I pull off this character?</B></div> <bR> <div>    A simple costume comprised of a gray velour top and gray leggings, and white socks did the trick. Once I introduced the character and how she came to live at M-T, the kids were hooked. Towards the end of the first show a kindergartener raised his hand and asked, “Are you really a mouse?”  I asked, “Do you want me to be?” “Yes,” Well then I am!”</div> <bR> <div> <B>Did I take license with the stories?</B></div> <bR> <div>    Oh yes! I was encouraged by the staff to do so, in service of the stories. From the perspective of a mouse, things often look at bit different. I was able to solve a few mysteries in this role, and to give things a compassionate twist. I never strayed from the essence of the stories however, which were gems in themselves. This too reflected the creative spirit of the school. We did emphasize however that all of the stories I told were true in essence which was important for the kids to know.  </div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>How were the kids involved besides from being audience members?</B></div> <bR> <div>    For each assembly I wrote out the stories that I would be telling. The performances were also audio and videotaped. I gave a copy to the Principal. The Principal then assigned one or two grades per session to divide up the stories, giving a few lines to each student (of their choosing), to illustrate. With the art teachers's help the kids used a simple collage format in most cases, using cut contruction paper. The illustrations went up in the hall for the month after I was there, with the lines of narration beneath them. They were so precious, and helped to reflect what most touched the children. Parents, teachers and students alike loved to stop and read them. </div> <div>    I also met with grade six students to help them develop their own M-T memory stories for telling.  We worked on imagery, character, movement and performance skills. Some of those stories were told at the last assembly and at the community event.</div> <div>   Another way that the kids were invovled was   through a mail box that I installed permanently in the main hallway. Kids were told that they could write to Mattie and that she would read their letters. Some of the children wrote me fan mail, while others responded to my request for stories from their memories that related to the school. I read some of these at assemblies also. </div> <bR> <div> <B>What is still to come?</B></div> <bR> <div>     When the new school is nearly ready to move in to, I will return as Mattie, and will tell the kids that I is worried about how I will get to the new school and where I will live. I am going to ask each class to write a story about how I get there and where I stay and how the kids will help to keep me a part of McCarthy-Towne spirit. I will ask them to include other things about the school that they will bring with them, and to include that in the story. I will share some of these stories in an assembly. They will be made into a book that can circulate from class to class. I believe that this process will help the kids to begin to think about the fact that they are going to be moving, and  to let there be time for dialogue and creative thinking long before the very end of school comes. </div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>  </div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>