NEW
Library Project
Volume 1, Number 2 - Fall 2002
Stories
Give Frame for Understanding
The
basement room at Trenton’s Martin House Learning Center has three walls
crammed with books and one wall that is empty of furniture. It’s an apt
setting; here, women and men in a pre-GED class encounter stories that are
both structured and open-ended.
On
a mid-summer evening, People and Stories Executive Director Patricia
Andres hands out copies of Anne Lamott’s “Mountain Birthday,” a tale
of faith and discernment as the author tries to decide whether to let her
seven-year-old son paraglide off a mountain.
“This
story is based on the author’s own experiences,” Andres mentions by
way of introduction. “Stories can provide a frame for understanding
life,” she tells the group, which includes recent immigrants from
Jamaica, Haiti and Nigeria. In the story, Lamott struggles to balance
freedom with safety, reaching into memory and feelings to determine
whether she should let her son fly.
“What
decision would you have made?” Andres asks.
“He’s
too small,” says Merle Mascall, shaking her head.
Angel
Rodriguez nods in agreement. “It’s a sport, but it’s dangerous.”
Lamott’s
story traces the contours of her introspection as she vacillates between
holding on and letting go. She brings elegant insights to bear upon her
thought process. She writes, for example, “After we jump into the
darkness of the unknown, faith lets us believe that we will either land on
solid ground or be taught how to fly.”
She
also identifies a core struggle of parenting: protecting without becoming
overprotective. When Andres shares some of her own experiences as a
mother, personal stories tumble forth from men and women in the
group—parents and grandparents—who, in turn, listen deeply to
others’ responses.
“There’s
no book on being a parent,” says Pamela Dye emphatically. “You’re on
your own. Sometimes you find yourself in situations where you just have to
act.”
Danny
Thomas looks intently at the text. He is quiet, but retains a nearly
photographic memory of his favorite stories, such as Chinua Achebe’s
“Marriage Is a Private Affair.”
“It
was difficult at first for me to comprehend [the stories],” he says.
“When [Andres] read them, it was easier for me to understand. Once we
got into a group, we all came up with different opinions. It was like a
puzzle, all the pieces coming together.”
Across
the room, Leon O’Reilly puts aside his review of consonant blends to
focus on Lamott’s words. Born in Jamaica, he came to the United States
four years ago and says he still hasn’t adjusted to the cold. He
believes People and Stories has helped him become a stronger reader.
“Some of the stories don’t end with a good explanation,” he says.
“It’s suspense. You’ve got to figure out why they do this or do
that.”
This
evening, the discussion moves from parenting to topics of faith, trust and
letting go. Andres points to a section where Lamott describes how she
overcame self-consciousness and danced with abandon at a writers’
retreat. “Was that a certain kind of letting go?” she asks.
Toward
the front of the room, Ronald Briggs peers through his gold-rimmed
glasses. “If you worry about what other people think,” he says firmly.
“You’re going to miss the miracle.”