Oral Tradition--Who is Your Family Storyteller

In an article posted by the Cultural Heritage Initiative for Community Outreach (CHICO) based at the University of Michigan School of Information (http://www.si.umich.edu/CHICO/UMS/drummers/index.html), a description of the oral tradition is provided. It says that storytelling is a way in which people make sense of what is going on around them on a day to day basis.

My mother is a perfect example of this. She tells her stories, every day, about the things that have had an impact on her life and on the lives of her family. Not only does she tell them, she repeats them at the mere mention of some word or some action that triggers the tale to be told--again, and, yes, again. Do I mind? On occasion I have to admit that I suck in my breath and prepare myself for yet one more rendition of the time that, for example, my under-age uncle ran away and joined the Army Airforce by forging my grandmother's name for permission. Yet, each time it's told she seems to divulge just a tad more of what happened that day, what my grandmother did, or other bits of information that she seemed to be holding on to in order to share them at just the right time for her audience. When the story begins to shift, my flagging attention is yanked into full alert. That wasn't the way she told this before! Yes, one more time my Mom has captured me in her storytelling spell. Who is your family storyteller?