telling the story

Frequently , at work, we grow tired of saying the same things, about the same things. to the same kinds of people over and over again. Indeed, when I was younger, my impatience with this process knew no bounds. When Connor was diagnosed and well into the span of his life, having to tell his `story`` or at least elements of it, fairly wore me out. in the beginning, it was his diagnosis, the process, the testing, the words the doctors used, were repeated over and over again ad nauseum, to family, friends, co-workers and some times even strangers. With the ``professionals``: paediatricians, OT, PT, teachers and assistants, it was the history : my pregnancy, his birth, and infancy were all examined under the microscope all having to be repeated over and over again, only to be written with a slightly different slant.
Then, just as it became second nature, I began new employment, not realising that when I spoke of my children with my new co-workers, they knew nothing of the story. Now the problem was that the story had gotten much longer. With high school came a whole new population of people who needed to hear the story :school principle, teachers and assistants, as well as other professionals (one of the biggest roadblocks in Ontario healthcare is that it is not streamlined through transitions, but divided into compartments of infant, school age, teenage, adult and senior) none of which seem to know how to talk to each other. Connor being Connor managed to interject new elements and twists into the story such as giftedness, learning disability, and coming out. I suppose to make sure that the story was not too boring to hear or tell. Still, the endless explanations about our exceptional sons had become somewhat tedious at times. then a life changing Light bulb moment occurred. I was attending a conference on obstetrical care and breastfeeding instruction when the teacher asked us :Do you ever just get exhausted saying the same thing over and over again. With a collective sigh and eye roll, there was  a resounding  LORD YES|! |Then she said :Consider this, it might be the thousandth time you have taught it, but it is the first time they have heard it! if you are bored and tired telling the story then the listener and learner will be bored too and not receive the information you are trying to convey. if you can keep the story fresh and exciting, then the listener will also be excited about what they are hearing."  There it was, the power to change and influence others positively is all in how you tell the story; absolutely life changing; so what if i had told the story of Connor's birth, childhood, and coming out over and over again. It might be tedious for me but for someone else it was the first time they were hearing it and it might just change how they look at things, how they do things or they might just be comforted by it, knowing they are not alone in their struggles. my personal affirmation for this idea came as he was doing one of his presentations to a school board conference. he was 17 and was the keynote speaker for a group of humor and wit, he told the story of his high school career and his coming out. A wonderful man came up to us after with tears in his eyes. Connor was always surrounded after one of his talks, so the man asked me "How old is he?" I answered "17", he turned to Connor and said, "I have to shake your hand, you are the bravest person I have ever met; it took me 40 years to do what you just did today (come out)" he said that the story had changed him. there were many other times when people have shared with me that knowing Connor and hearing his story has changed their lives or how they view things, but nothing struck me as much as that moment.

teachers. using
So now when I am at the park with my pack of hounds and someone asks me, "What kind of dogs are they?" I proudly relate the stories of their rescues, the histories that we know and why we adopted a rescue rather than getting a pure bread puppy. And now, rather than being fed up with repeating the story, I am excited at the chance to share it; after all, its the first time they have ever heard it and hearing that story can change a life and in turn change the world.