This weekend was supposed to be a fun and relaxing hunting trip with my wife, Kirren, and my good friend, Adolfo. Both of them had elk tags, and we've had this trip planned out for several months. Our truck, on the other hand, had other plans...
Below is our truck and living quarters trailer. They are shown majestically hanging out in the Rocky Mountains. This truck of ours has been having problems galore this year, in true 2020 fashion, and yesterday it decided to leave us stranded on the side of I-70.
So the lemons... Without a working truck, the hunting trips is off. The tow home cost almost $600! We spent several hours waiting for a the tow, being that the weekend migration to the mountains had already starter. Then of course, it will cost a significant amount of time, effort, and money to fix the truck.
The lemonade... While waiting for the tow truck, we decided to tail gate and cook up some hot dogs! Kirren had a chance to finish a book she's been struggling to finish for a while. But the highlight of it all for me, was that I had the opportunity to get to know a fellow human, Juan.
Juan was the tow truck driver that showed up to tow the rig and I home. The trip back was about a three-hour drive, and we had to drive fairly slow down the steep mountain grades, as he pulled BOTH the truck and trailer. A feat that I didn't anticipate was possible with the "normal-size" tow truck that had come to our rescue.
Juan and I spent the trip home getting to know each other and sharing stories. It helped that we both served in the armed forces, which resulted in about half the trip sharing war stories. We shared stories about our pets, mechanical issues, engineering philosophy, where we've lived, what we've done for a living, and we purposely avoided discussing politics.
The process of sharing stories, and getting to know each other, truly softened the blow of the rough day. Juan certainly seemed to enjoy having someone to talk to during the long trip, and I certainly enjoyed not thinking much about the truck and financial impact of the day.
So the gist of this little story, is stories. Stories help us get to know each other, but stories also help us heal, they help us cope, and they help lighten the blows this life tends to deal us. The series of events I just described helps strengthen my resolve, that if I can encourage people to share a few more stories through playing a simple card game, Top Tale, then perhaps I can eventually leave this world knowing that I made it a better place indirectly. The sharing of tales is really what's to credit with making that impact, but if I can help facilitate that sharing of tales, then I win too!
Tell me, how has sharing stories helped you through a tough time? If you don't have an example, then try it next time you hit a rough patch. Open up, and get to know your fellow humans.
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