I knew a fresh-faced bartender named Ron when I worked at Penrod's on South Beach. In fact, he looked much too young to be a bartender. With his curly blonde hair and bright blue eyes, he resembled one of those angel babies that Nancy Noël paints.

Ron possessed an amazing ability in getting people to tell him their stories. Even our bar manager Michelle was mystified. She had never seen anything like it.

People would sit at the bar and begin telling Ron things that they would never tell their psychoanalyst or their priest. I asked Ron how he did it. He said, "Everybody has a story."

I agree with Ron that everybody has a story. I also believe that stories are worth preserving. One of the things I like about the Broad Ripple Gazette is the emphasis on the stories that tell the history of this neighborhood.

Stories are important for neighborhoods and for families, too. My Uncle Floyd Pruitt began sending his stories home while serving in the Navy during World Was II. Floyd is in his mid-eighties and is still writing stories, books, and poetry. Uncle Floyd is the best writer of stories I have ever known. He has cultivated it over time and seasoned it with life experience.

Mentioning my Uncle Floyd has inspired me. Perhaps I have more stories in me than I realized. I am sure that you do, too.