The Storyteller
by Darling Villena-Mata

It is often said that being a witness to stories unfolding can be healing. It is through repeated storytelling that life is passed from one generation to another. The glimpse of what once was gives the listener an avenue to the joys, sorrows, and adventures of another person.

My mother, or as I called her, mi mami or mi madre, was and is one of the best storytellers of our family. She could have been a great actress. But then I would not have had the honor and pleasure to have her so active a mother in my life.

I come from a family in which stories are very important. For we all live in stories, and through them we find ourselves. In our stories we find that we have the ability to punctuate an emotion or event that thrills us or infuriates us. We can modify the original storyline and rewrite a plausible outcome or response to events that had different meanings to us in the past.

We can take over a story that was given to us and rewrite it according to what we want — if we are aware of this power and have the tools to do it.

And that is where both my parents come in. My beloved father, or papi, loved to tell "dichos" — sayings with moral and educational overtones. Mi mami would captivate us with tales of her youth, her triumphs, as well as poems and stories that my extended family had written. Her stories became alive, and they gave me a look at not just a mother, but of who she is and once was: a woman, a bride, an activist, a daughter, a sister, a teenager, a child. I heard and "saw" her grow up as she recounted her tales of yesteryears. With much drama, delight, and body movements, I saw her at her ranch nurturing orphaned wolves to health, riding horseback, fighting polio when she was just a child, immigrating with three young children to the United States to meet mi papi who awaited us, and learning to speak English and go grocery shopping in our new homeland in the late 1950's.

As she recounted her story about the first time she met my father, I would see his eyes sparkle as if he were falling in love with her again. As he listened to her tell the story, mi papa would reach out and kiss her tenderly and with much delight. I can only imagine what tenderness and passion they must have had at their first meeting fifty-three years ago.

And each time she told the stories of her life, they remained fresh and vibrant, as though she just experienced them moments ago. Her enthusiasm for life, for laughter, and her passion....yes, her passion for delight and her attempts to make us laugh, wonder, and feel with all our senses are legacies that I gladly receive from her. That is the woman I love very dearly. The woman that helped give me tools to realize that my existence is the springboard to Life and living. That through Spirit of heart and love, dreams and hopes, I am my own re-creator of my stories. Gracias, mami.

© 1996 Darling Villena-Mata. All rights reserved.

Issue One Features
Issue 1 - Page 1
The Storyteller
Fear of Intimacy
CST: Is It for You?
Sister-Friend
Child's Death
Acupuncture
Women and Health
Internal Conflict
Old Ways
On the Spot with Maria Susan Greene

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