My Year as a Storytelling Apprentice

                 Last year, about this time, my mentor, Pam Holcomb, received word from that Kentucky Arts Council, that our apprentice ship grant was approved.

                 Pam and I submitted the proposal asking for funds to pay her to mentor me through turning my public speaking skills into storytelling.

We immediately began work. Pam began teaching me about storytelling as an art form and as a way to get a message out in an entertaining way.

I have always included storytelling in my extension programs because I believe people pay more attention to stories than they do PowerPoint presentations and written publications.

Last September, Pam and I attended the Cave Run Storytelling Festival. It was there she said she had an idea for the finale of my apprenticeship.

                Pam who is a retired theater and math teacher had a young lady in her drama class by the name of Kristy Barrett, better known as Kristy Bee. She asked if I would consider helping her create a storytelling program about Kristy’s life journey. Kristy was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy at eighteen months old. But she didn’t let it stop her from living an incredible adventure we call life.

                Her parents were told Kristy would probably be mentally challenged and probably would not live past 21 years. Kristy is now 41 and super intelligent.

                My first inclination was to say “I don’t think I’m ready”, but I changed it to “Do you think I’ll be

ready to do something like that”. I had never heard of this person and knew absolutely nothing about Cerebral Palsy.

                “Sure, you will”, she encouraged me.

                I could tell this was extremely important to Pam. So with her encouragement I agreed to help.

                “I want to meet her, so I can get to know her as a person. I can’t write or talk about anything if I don’t know about it personally. I have to feel what I write and what I say because it comes from the heart”, I explained to Pam.

                So our journey began.

                Kristy and I became facebook friends and I got to know her just a little. I was totally blown away by her use of the English language. Each post was very poetic; words strung together like a melody played on a violin.  But I didn’t want to know so much that I would have preconceived ideas when I met her.

                In November, Pam and I met at Kristy Bee’s home in Taylorsville. I had my dandy little recorder and questions galore to ask this person so I could come to know her likes, dislikes, personality, loves and hates, and what she holds dear to her heart as well as what she wants to remove from her life.

                When I walked into Kristy’s room, I didn’t see a crumpled body lying in bed with sunken eyes. I didn’t notice her fingers curving backward or the petite frame. I saw Miss Personality. I heard the friendliest “Hello” I had ever heard. I saw welcoming eyes and friendly gestures. The green and yellows that brighten her room was just an extension of her character. Brightly colored Honey Bees, Bumble Bees, I Love Lucy, Charlie Brown and Snoopy keep her company. Love is obvious through handmade greeting cards, pictures and well wishes creatively displayed on top of stacks of books, books and more books.

 The day spent with Kristy was very rewarding. I asked a few questions but mostly it was filled with Kristy telling stories about growing up, about her parents who are her heroes, and all the friends in her life. Very few stories were about her, there was nothing selfish in the six hours that we talked. She told stories about her family, about achievements, about possessed wheel chairs, about friends and books, about poetry and plays and church and college, but all the stories were about other people and the influence they had on her life.

                After meeting Kristy and hearing her stories, I wanted to know more about Cerebral Palsy (CP). I couldn’t find a lot of information that is written on my level. I learned that CP is caused by damage to the brain and is irreversible. More than 10,000 children are diagnosed with CP each year, one every 15 minutes. A baby can be fine during pregnancy but problems during delivery can result in CP. Usually, it is diagnosed within the first two years of life. Although CP, itself, is a non life threatening condition, however, associative concerns such as bladder and bowel problems, eating disorders, spasms, and/or other problems may occur. They may or may not worsen through life. These conditions are manageable but may be hard to deal with. Cerebral Palsy doesn’t affect everyone the same. The average lifetime medical cost for a person with CP is more than one million dollars and growing.

                After we gathered the stories from Kristy, Pam interviewed several friends and her mom. Then came the overwhelming task of reducing all the information to a 90 minute story telling odyssey.

                There’s no way to look at the map and find a short cut to Putney, (Harlan County) Kentucky from Sandy Hook so Pam and I spent  hours and days and weeks of work on the phone, through e-mail and in person. Finally after several days meeting in Jackson, Hazard, and Lexington we reduced the stories to recap the ups and downs; ins and outs; smiles and frowns; laughter and tears of Kristy’s amazing life into a 90 minute performance which included Kristy reading a poem she wrote just for the occasion. A presentation with lots of pictures teamed with her favorite song of all times, “Hold On”, by 33 Miles told the stories we didn’t have time to tell.

                Pam and I presented “Bee Still, Embrace My Gift” May 11^th at the First Baptist Church, Shelbyville, KY to a room full of Kristy’s family and friends. It was an amazing evening. Kristy had never heard or read the stories we had taken from her life, she sat on the front row and listened intently to every word. She smiled, she laughed, she cried and slung her arms in joy when her favorite band, 33 Miles, skyped in and sang “Hold On” live from Texas. Her joy spilled from her eyes and those of everyone in the room just knowing how such a show of love and encouragement brightened her day.

Kristy says “Cerebral Palsy is my gift from God. I wouldn’t change it if I could because this is the way God made me”. But she feels like the Velveteen Rabbit, like her fur has all been loved off. She wonders why people just see her wheel chair and not the person inside. “CP has been a wonderful gift from God but sometimes gifts come in crumpled packages. When they look at me, people just see the bent and crooked body and sunken eyes. Why can’t they see beyond the package to the present inside. If they look close enough they will see I have a heart and soul and lots of love. Disabled people are beautiful people. Please don’t allow your eyes to stop at the package. Look inside for the complete person. You may be surprised at what you find.”

                 I was super nervous when we first started the show but once settled in, I did it. We got great comments from the audience. Kristy  Bee Barrett, you have made a remarkable impact on my life. You've made me look at things differently. Small things I've taken for granted, like those Three Steps that touched Pam's heart, mean much more to me. Thank you for sharing your Gift from God with me. 

               Thank you, Kentucky Arts Council, for believing in me and allowing me to have this profound experience with a great storytelling mentor, Pam Holcomb.