A Lifetime Ticket to Magic as Storytellers Fill Our Heart

At the end of September in 2004, my daughter, son and I began what would become a “once in a lifetime” experience that changed our lives, leaving us forever enriched, entertained and filled with fantastic stories. The cost of such a trip was far far more than I could normally afford.  I received an insurance settlement from an auto accident to finance a very special vacation. We were heading to our very first and one of the largest festivals – the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN, as the major event in a 10-day vacation

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Our airplane was heading into Atlanta, GA late in the evening on one of the last days in September. The entire southeastern part of the country was engulfed in the remnants of Hurricane Jeanne that “slammed into Florida.” Our plane diverted to Nashville for refueling after circling in the clouds over and over again because it was unsafe to land.

My son was nine years old and this was his first airplane flight. The airline stewardess assured him that this flight was a “bit unusual.”  My son was unconcerned. He was far more interested in eating his peanut butter and jelly sandwich and the cool container he could take with him. He has a certificate signed by both pilots. He wrote about his experience and sadly turned it in with his independent study homework and it never came home.

We were glad to be diverted to Nashville, because we had planned to drive there the next day from our intended touchdown in Knoxville. We were already in danger of missing our connecting flight from Atlanta. We got off the plane, after watching our second movie of the flight – this time on the landing strip. So many planes had been diverted to anywhere and everywhere, we sat and waited permission to approach an open gate. Then we left the plane without our luggage and headed to our motel in Nashville one day early

We enjoyed a weekend filled with morning til night storytelling. We heard fabulous, fun and amazing stories – true life stories, folktales, mime, ghost stories, lies, and true stories with a LOT of stretching. Bill Harley, Bil Lepp, Donald Davis, Antonio Rocha and many more we still enjoy either in person, online or by listening to the dozen CDs we have purchased over the years.

Our trip extended 10 days as we toured the back roads and areas nearby, eating out, buying mementos to take home. Carmel, a beautiful plush horse came from the Country Music Hall of Fame. She remains an important part of the family. A set of handmade painted pottery bowls came from a school for the arts hidden along a country road. We found beautiful, warm, plaid blanket throws at a gas station. We wrapped ourselves up in them during chilly nights at the Festival

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Ever since we enjoyed that first storytelling festival in 2004, we return to local storytelling festivals every year. We have enjoyed weekends in Mariposa, outside Yosemite National Park for a weekend festival of fun – and once even in the snow. We visited San Francisco Bay Area and the Sierra Storytelling Festivals. In 2020, I saw tellers at the Jonesborough festival for the first time since 2004 in a virtual space. And Timpanoogos for the first time – online. TBD Storytellers continue telling stories through Zoom, first monthly, now bimonthly.

Now 20 years later, I don’t remember what life was like before we knew our dozen favorite tellers, the stories and laughter we share and the lessons we have learned.  We take them with us everywhere on CDs.

Fill your life with magic. Listen to stories.Visit

http://www.storynet.org to learn more about storytelling and storytellers.