Life stories celebrated at Thornhill book launch
Seniors share comic tales, serious trials in Hesperian Tales

YorkRegion.com
Nov. 15, 2014
By Chris Simon

Allan Hughes came of age in a row boat.

He was 12 at the time, and he was leading five family members across a Muskoka lake in the boat, with plans to pick up treats at a grocery store close to their rented cottage.

He was the only person in the boat capable of operating the outboard motor. When they left, the water was smooth, but by the time they returned to the boat with food in hand, a storm rolled in and the lake became choppy.

He steered the boat back, despite the rough obstacle, and was congratulated by family.

“We landed a little bit up the shore from the cottage dock, but everybody was safe,” Hughes said. “I went inside and everybody praised me. I felt I had gone through a certain stage of my development.”

The Hesperus Village resident’s story of maturation is documented in Hesperian Tales, Discovering Forgotten Treasures, celebrated today at a book launch at the retirement community.

Eleven of the Thornhill Vaughan retirement village’s residents have published stories in the book. Each piece was collected through spontaneous storytelling sessions.

Some of the stories describe powerful events, others convey humour and a few explore emotional or spiritual plights.

There’s a story of a woman’s journey to find her husband, who was imprisoned during the Second World War, and a piece about chickens getting loose on a Toronto streetcar.

Many of the stories come from early life experiences, however, they’re told with wisdom, hindsight and perspective, fellow writer Anna Carling said.

“Everything was spontaneous,” she said. “It’s not counting the wrinkles, but finding out what’s in them. They give you the sense of character of a person.”

Carling pushed the group to publish the stories. Work began nearly two years ago, when residents started meeting twice a month in a supportive setting free of judgment or expectation.

Recording, editing, compiling and publishing Hesperian Tales was very much a collective effort.

Storytelling can be quite therapeutic for the writer and audience, Carling said.

“When we discover meaning, we begin healing,” she said. “Something happens when we share; we become alive. We can build peace because we listen to each other and appreciate what another person knows and understands.”

Copies of the book can be purchased at lulu.com. For more information, call 905-771-1352.