There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside of you.
[Maya Angelou]

I have six hours of digital audio files of my mama telling stories from her youth. I grew up listening to adults tell stories from their memories. Now I find myself doing the same thing—telling stories from my memories.

On the morning of the 9/11 disaster, I hurried from work to visit my mama. She was watching TV, and was not surprised when I showed up. I always sought her out when alarming events occured because she always comforted me with words of wisdom. Not long after that, Mama died.

I think of myself as a fairly independent adult but, after she was gone, I realized how dependent I was on her for advice and comfort. I also missed simply having someone else to talk with. It wasn’t long after she was gone that I found the Story Circle Network. I joined an SCN internet writing circle, and started writing little stories from my memories. After doing this monthly for five years, I have a collection of more than sixty stories. This has been such an enriching, comforting, and growth-producing experience that I wanted to share it and send the SCN folks my appreciation.