Darling Files 010

Stories that come from journals

In the fall of 1996, I was a Junior at Calvin College. I took a Communications Arts and Sciences course called, “Oral Interpretation.” I thought it was going to get me out of giving speeches. It did not. However, it was one of my favorite classes. I learned a lot about speaking, how to tell stories, and I learned a lot about my family.

For one project, I had to interview my Grandma Ayanoglou, and then put the recording into a story. I memorized what she said and then gave a performance as if I was her. Following, are the first draft of the notes I made from that recording. What you read are her exact words. I’ve misspelled words, and part of that is my ignorance, but I also deliberately misspelled some words to get at how she spoke.

Almost 20 years later, I wrote an essay for IMAGE titled, “Inheriting Trauma,” which is about my Grandma and Grandpa Ayanoglou and their journey to America. I would not have been able to write it had I not been given the gift of this course, and learning how to listen.