July 31, 2015
Anyone who knows my Dad knows that he is quite the story teller. His specialty is bedtime stories where he intertwines truth from his childhood with unrealistic characters and story lines. Some of my dad's trademark bedtime stories include Valerfella - different variations of Cinderella-esk stories about a boy who grew up with seven sisters who bossed him around (my dad really did grow up with seven sisters). By far his most famous stories are the tales about he, Evan, and Ivan (his real-life, childhood best friends) saving Snowflake (the small town in Arizona where he grew up) from attackers like the abominable snowman, a giant lizard, or any other far-fetched and over-sized creature he could think of. Because of his tendency to mix truth with fiction, we never know what parts of his story are real and what are not. I remember how my 8-year-old mind was blown when we visited a real place called Snowflake, Arizona and I met the true and living Evan and Ivan in person. I had grown up convinced they were just a figment of my dad's imagination.
Being the designated storyteller isn't always easy and some nights my dad didn't have the time or energy to tell one of his full length adventures so after much begging and pleading he would reluctantly agree to tell us a story and then begin, "There was a calf and that's half, they put him in a stall and that's all." My brothers and I absolutely hated when he did this. Sometimes he would trick us with a classic, "When I was a boy in snowflake..." beginning and then he would quickly introduce a calf into the story which would bring instant moans and complaints from his audience because we knew the story was about to come to an abrupt stop with our most dreaded line.
Now my dad is a Grandpa and has a new generation of listeners to entertain with his bedtime stories and they love them just as much as we did. It hasn't taken long for Miles to pick up on Grandpa Val's storytelling patterns and he has developed quite a knack for telling a tall tale himself. He will often interrupt a conversation saying he has something to tell us and once he has everyone's attention he will lead in with his favorite intro, "When I was a baby..." and go on to tell a harrowing tale of being chased and eaten by a bear or crocodile or a spin off of whatever we were previously talking about. If I could fast-forward into the future 25 years I would be willing to bet I would find Miles sitting next to his kids' beds telling them stories about "When I was a baby in Omaha....".
