A great idea for a family gathering

Posted by Susan Turnbull December 2, 2009 in Blog

I get to be on the receiving end of so many wonderful stories. Here’s a good one I heard today from a 75 year old woman I had the pleasure of sitting next to at a luncheon today. She told me about celebrating her birthday with all her grandchildren this fall at a cabin in the mountains. One night she scattered 75 pennies on a table and waited for the kids to ask her about why they were there.

She answered that there was one for every year of her life. Wow…they said. Then she told them to each gather some up and count them in their palms. For every handful, she told a story: that was the year I graduated from high school, that was the year I had your father, that was the year I went to first grade, etc.  Everybody loved it.

She also told a story about a young grandson. He once asked someone how old they were, and when they answered, “70 years old,” he looked at them in wonder and said, “Did you start at 1?”