On Friday, October 18, I participated in the We the People Warwick’s Story Share event at the Greenwood Lake Elks Lodge. Though not a resident of the Warwick community and just visiting with our dear friends, the Barlows now living here, I could feel a welcoming warmth and camaraderie between everyone in the hall that evening.
The stories themselves were both captivating and memorable: anecdotes ranging from how two people decided to get married after an outing at Costco to several participants revealing their battles with health issues. Some stories touched the listening audience’s deepest emotions, such as a retired EMT sharing his experiences dealing with drug overdoses of local residents while others, like the one about a Justin Bieber lookalike, resulted in raucous laughter.
Should I meet most of these storytellers again in a future trip, I will not recall their names or their faces; however, I will remember their stories. The choice to orally share moments of their lives reflected an openness among strangers and acquaintances that is sadly much too uncommon these days. Indeed, we are the stories we tell.
Ron Shapiro
Warwick visitor