Here Say is a project in community storytelling. We travel to a new place each week and ask people to share true stories about things we all experience: love, family, learning and more. To see where we've been, check out our interactive map. And to hear your favorite stories from this season, you can find our free podcast on itunes.
Katy McDonald was at the market with her family. She told us about a dinner she’ll never forget.
"One time my parents served up dinner and it looked like pulled pork sandwiches. My sister and I got halfway through, and we were 15 and 17 at the time, and my parents tell us that it’s actually pulled raccoon. We finished the sandwiches because it was delicious, then we asked if it was found on the side of the road or if it was hunted for."
Rev. Clairnel Nervik is the pastor of Peace United Church of Christ. She told us about the tough lessons shes learned from her diverse and growing family.
My son got married a year and a half ago to a woman from the Philippines, she’s beautiful, I have her picture here. She’s always talking about how ugly she is because her skin is dark. And I think she’s the most beautiful, inside and out, of all the women my son was with. Well I went in January, and their baby was born, and I went to go be with them for the baby. And online it said you can get a visa when you enter, they live in Dubai, that you can get a visa when you enter the country if you’re staying for a month or less, and I was staying for exactly a month. I found out it was if you were staying for 30 days or less and it was a 31 day month. I started getting really nervous, this is Dubai! The whole time I’m there I’m talking to them about it, and I’m thinking at the same time as loving this precious, precious baby. And finally, she just says, “You’ll be okay, you’re white, they won’t bother you, that’s why I wish I was white”. It just broke my heart. We’re all the same and she’s family and I am treated differently than she is.
Laura Cutts just turned 18 and had some poignant realizations about growing up.
So when I was little I thought that 18 was the epitome of the young, hip sort of people. You’re still young and you’re not stupid and old and whatever, but you’re not a kid anymore. And I turned 18 on the second of September. On your birthday you never really feel any different, but there was all this big deal about oh! you’re 18 now. I still have the same concerns I had previously. I still have to ask to go to the bathroom at school. I’m still a kid. It was kind of anticlimactic really. You have all these grand ideas in your head when you’re a kid and everything is so simplistic. Then you get to that point in your life and you’re like...well... okay. I guess it was, not disappointing, just a reality check of how time passes. It’s not a big deal, it’s just time passing.
The most important thing we’ve learned is that sometimes the simplest words are the most powerful. Here’s Gene Robertson with his story about Love.
"Well, I can tell you this. I’m 80 and most of my loves are dead, so I’ve lost a lot of loves.
Holding hands, that’s always been nice. Having someone who you know loves you hold your hand."
For more stories from around the area, check out our interactive map here.