I’m excited for Memorial Day and the time off work. The pool is open, and my kids can swim on their own while I read or snooze. My neighbor grills for the whole block, even the canines. Rain or shine, I hope to relax, possibly with a frosty mug in hand.
But I am most thirsty for stories.
I have a couple of buddies who served in the armed forces overseas. Like me, they go to work and pick up their children from school. They, too, make homemade pizza. One friend helps with Cub Scouts, and another coaches soccer. Still another has chickens and ducks. He’s deaf in one ear from a roadside bomb that exploded, killing the other soldiers in the jeep. Late into the night, he and I sip black coffee—his beverage of choice—while he narrates stories that send my heart tumbling faster than any caffeine rush.
Memorial Day is about stories. Stories of good versus evil and right versus wrong. These are competing stories, depending on the side you’re on. I’ve heard crude stories and funny stories, stories that ring hollow and deeply true, stories of pain and suffering. Stories of hope and hospitality, like my buddy’s account of patrolling a village in Afghanistan when a teenage boy approached him and, in quiet English, asked, “You please come to eat with my family?”
Stories are sacred, and stories are profane. Stories are curses, and stories are prayers. You can ingest and imbibe a story. Your life is made of stories, and one story can make all the difference, whether told from a pulpit, a pew, a pool, or from across a kitchen table while drinking black coffee late at night.
Andrew Taylor-Troutman is the author of the book with Wipf and Stock Publishers titled This Is the Day: A Year of Observing Unofficial Holidays about Ampersands, Bobbleheads, Buttons, Cousins, Hairball Awareness, Humbugs, Serendipity, Star Wars, Teenagers, Tenderness, Walking to School, Yo-Yos, and More. He lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina where he is a student of joy.
Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
Little Big Moments: Stories to Drink Chapelboro.com.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Little Big Moments: Stories to Drink )
Also on site :
- Diddy Trial Recap: Kid Cudi Testifies About Home Break-In and Porsche Molotov Cocktail Explosion
- Inside Mercedes-Benz’s plans to create a new HQ with hundreds of jobs in Atlanta
- I Write a Podcast Newsletter, and These Are My Favorite New Shows of 2025 (So Far)