provenance

 I'm a big story teller. I love telling the tales of my youth and repeating the stories I was told over the years. Unfortunately I don't have the talent to do verbally. Some people just have a way of catching an audience. I knew a few that did and admired that ability. Recently my brother in law took an interest in some of the family legends concerning my Dad. Dad was quite the character and led a colorful life. He was a strong independent man that did things his way. It is not that he was unusual but rather a man of a certain generation. Born and raised in a time and place that allowed him to prosper and grow. If ever a man was born to a place, it was my father. Now my brother in law turned to me in search of some " provenance " as the art dealers and collectors would call it. He is looking for some physical evidence of the events. I do have a few old photographs and newspaper clippings. It was in thinking about providing that evidence that I realized how little there is. Not much is documented.
 I suppose that is why they are called stories. Over the years they have been told and retold hundreds of times. I'm certain that they have been added to and some unflattering details left out. They are the moments of high drama and deep sorrow. Those are the tales we remember. The things of everyday life are the sentimental things. Those type of things gently pull on our heartstrings and we are often not even aware. But those highs and lows always arrive without introduction. They just happen and we react. The reaction makes the story. Today with the advent of our phones a great deal of these incidents are being recorded. There is video and audio evidence of an indisputable nature. I do believe that the majority of these recordings will be lost to time and that is a good thing. The ones that survive will be viewed one day as a look into the past. Like watching an old black and white movie, it the things in the background that will prove to be most interesting. The stories that I talk about are the same way, they occurred in the background of a life. It is just that those incidents held the spotlight for a few moments. It is the highlights that we remember.
 I began to wonder what tales could be told of me ? Oh I have a few stories to tell of the things that interested me but are they the ones that will be repeated ? What stories are told outside of earshot ? I do not think of myself as a colorful figure by any stretch of the imagination. I'd say I am pretty much middle of the road. I wasn't a particularity mischievous child and took few great risks. I have pretty much gone through life fairly unbruised and unbattered. Having achieved no great accomplishments or suffered any great loses doesn't give much fodder for stories. Still that is not meant as a complaint, only an observation. Then I thought about the documentation of those stories I could tell. Again I have a few old photographs but little else. They say a picture is worth a thousand words but without an explanation I find them to be mostly silent. Or, at the very least full of words that may or may not apply. I can make a story fit the picture, but looks can be deceiving. That is what Paul Harvey knew as well, with his " the rest of the story " narratives. Maybe that is what we need to do, tell the rest of the story. If you were to write your story what would it be ? More importantly though is , what is the rest of the story ? Would you be willing to tell that ? What will be the story that others tell about you ? When the book is closed and the last page written what will be the " rest of the story ? " What documentation will remain.