Of all the things that went on at family reunions at my Grandma’s house when I was a boy—the meals, the caravan to the graveyard, sleeping on a feather mattress—of all of that, my favorite part was when everybody gathered in the living room after supper and told stories. Now, this wasn’t an organized event. No one announced, “All right, it’s story time!” It just sort of happened. It was the logical thing to do when a bunch of folks got together and sat down, for them to tell stories about (or tell stories on) each other.

In later years I have come to the conclusion that those stories are a great part of what makes up my family’s DNA. We are connected to our roots through those stories. We discovered we were a part of something way larger than just ourselves from hearing about Granddaddy’s adventures in the Smokey Mountains when he and Grandma were first starting out…and the fish that got away that grew bigger with each telling. We discovered not only what happened but also people’s reactions to what happened. We learned some life lessons.

I immediately gleaned from Al Ainsworth’s collection of tales and recollections he has put together in his Lines In The Gravel book that, obviously his is a story-family, too. And his stories are more than just entertainment. Some of them are funny. Some are serious. Some bring a sad smile. But all of them carry a deeper meaning that applies to more than the situation at hand. They apply to life in general. And what better way to learn about life than from stories from a family who lived it right.

Life’s lessons are best taught and best remembered when coupled with stories. Blanch Terry, long-time manager of the Old Courthouse Museum in Vicksburg, told me her father was a history teacher. And she said he always told a story along with his lessons. She told me a few of his tales. I still remember them.

Jesus had quite a bit to say about the best way to live life. And he didn’t give us a list of rules to memorize so much as he just couched pretty much everything he wanted to teach in a story.

Al Ainsworth has captured precious capsules of life in his stories, and I come away from them having felt some of the obvious love that underlies them rub off on me. They make me feel as if maybe I had just lived a page in the life of his family. And I like that.

It is too bad we don’t have the time or the opportunity to have different generations of the family sit down together today and tell stories like these the way we used to. It would help the younger ones catch on to the love and humor and honor that helped shape the family into what it is. It would help them catch on to who they are and to realize they are a part of something bigger than themselves. And remind them that they ARE a part of it. A part of something that has been going on a long time and has survived by the things learned in these stories. Telling the family stories would move them to laugh, to cry and to pitch in and help someone else. It would move them to then pass values like this on to their children, just like they passed on the DNA that molded their children’s physical bodies.

Take a lesson from Lines in the Gravel and pass on your family stories that mold spirits and bind people together.

Walt Grayson

Broadcaster/Writer

Host of Look Around Mississippi and Mississippi Roads

Next: Introduction