A library in rural Montana hosted a conversation with older adults asking them, ” what should young people be asking you?” A group I am working with adopted the responses to design a community story telling event featuring older adults in the same town. I thought of the impact of this and other story telling conversations I have been at. The Treasures of Cincinnati immediately came to mind as they were short, emotional, personal, not always polished but extremely powerful stories about a person’s passions and experiences.

The follow-up conversations were equally inspiring and provoked engagement and connections in the community. No matter how experienced the story tellers were, each shared an eye opening motivational tale and very similar to those in Montana, they were not your same old story but one of passions, gifts, and possibility.