What is Your Story That Only You Know?

Last night, I went to the Atlanta Symphony, and I was reminded of a time in my youth that I have rarely told to anyone. Before I tell you the story, I suggest that you, the reader, also have a story that only you experienced, and perhaps you might want to share it, too.

Your story can be about almost anything. It could be a childhood experience, or something that happened at a dinner, or at an award you received, or at a ceremony, or at a concert you attended, or at a birth, or at a bar mitzvah, or at a funeral. We have so many experiences in life that have an impact on us, but we don’t share them. Let me give you a few examples.

My daughter told me that one time she took her children camping and found a freight car that had sleeping arrangements. She thought it would be fun to have her kids sleep in a freight car, and it was a great idea. She awoke early in the morning when everyone was still asleep and walked outside. As she walked down the steps of the freight car, she saw a $20 bill lying on the ground. She looked around and no one was there. She was all alone. She picked up the money and considered it dollars from Heaven.

Get The AJT Newsletter by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up

My wife told me a story about her brother when he was just an infant, and she was about 10 years old. She walked into the bedroom where her infant brother was sleeping. He was lying in a crib on his stomach and looked like he wasn’t breathing. Immediately, she picked him up, turned him over and slapped his back, and that got him breathing once again. When she did this, no one else was home and she thought she saved her brother’s life.

The private stories you can tell can be of joy, of passion, or of relief. The reason it is kept deep in your memory is because the event was unusual, and it had an impact on you. And the story you tell reflects your character. It says who you are because it is something that defines how you acted, and what you did or said or felt. It’s about who you are.

Now here is my story. When I was 14 years old, I had some money that I received from my bar mitzvah. At the time, I lived in Brooklyn in a three-bedroom apartment with my parents and my sister. It was 1952 and TVs were just being sold in large quantities. My parents bought a 16-inch RCA TV that they put in the living room and watched it most evenings. My bedroom was a short distance away in the middle of our apartment, so the sound from the TV disturbed me as I tried to do my high school homework.

I took $80 of my bar mitzvah money and with guidance from my father I bought a 360 Columbia stereo for the few long-playing records I owned. I bought those records from Mr. Solomon, a father of my friend who lived just below my apartment. Solomon wanted to get rid of some of his classical records and I bought them for $1 each. One of those records was “Sibelius Symphony No.1 in E Minor,” with Sir Thomas Beecham conducting The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

To drown out the TV sound in the living room, I played “Symphony No. 1” hundreds of times as I did my homework. I also played other music, but that symphony was my favorite, and I recommend it to you. It is worth listening to that music, for it will fill you with passion and enjoyment. I still have the record.

Now last night, Feb. 13, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra played “Sibelius Symphony No. 1,” and I sat in the fourth row reliving the memories I had sitting at my desk 70 years ago doing my homework. Several times during the full sound of the music, I had goose bumps up and down my body reminding me of a time so long ago that was so important for me. I was committed to learning, I was studious about doing my homework, and it set my character that took me all the way to graduate school and beyond. I encourage you to tell your own private story that only you experienced. It will say who you are, and it will transform you into a wonderful story teller.