Welcome to Georgia Bred
The old folks that I knew in my growing up years loved storytelling. They would sit around in the back yard under the shade of the Pecan trees and talk on and on about much of nothing. First one story about going down to the lake last Saturday to catch a few fish, which led to another story about a rundown old Ford truck, which led to the next story about what happened to Mr. Roy down at the service station, which turned into a story about a good dog for no apparent reason.
I could listen to them for hours. There was seldom any intended point or moral to the stories. They were just the tales of ordinary everyday life. Most of the time there was laughter. Every now and then there would be a long silence at the end, like they were reliving the moment in their minds. Through their stories I felt connected to a way of life that came and went before my time.
Georgia Bred is exactly that. A simple collection of stories that are woven through the fabric of a simple life.
My own contribution began as an idea I had to write down a few of the family stories for my grandkids. My own grandfather on the Chappell side passed on from this world a few years before I was born. One of my long-standing regrets is that I never got to know him. The stories that my Dad told about him intrigued me. He painted so many images in my mind that I felt like I almost knew him. So, in case I go too soon, in case my grandkids don’t get the chance to listen firsthand to my own story, I wanted to leave behind a way for them to get to know their Grandpa and Nana.
I had maybe a dozen stories in mind at first. But once I got started, I just kept writing. One memory triggered another. Then another. And then I started discovering the stories that were happening around me all the time. The people I meet. The struggles common to all of us. The faith that drives us. The simple everyday things that we call life.
At the urging of friends and family, I have stuck with this writing gig for longer than I ever expected. At times it is a struggle to put life into words. Other times, the best moments just seem to write themselves. I have found a touch of humor and a lot of satisfaction in the response of people who comment on these stories with bits and pieces of their own stories. There is a connection that people find when they read something that sounds so familiar to their own journey in this life.
If you take a liking to Georgia Bred, then please, by all means, join in with the rest of us. I do my dead-level best to post around two stories each week. You can get them sent directly to your email inbox if you want. All you have to do is “follow” Georgia Bred by clicking on the link and signing up. It’s that simple.
Thanks for taking a peek at these stories. If you find yourself laughing, or weepy-eyed, or just pondering your own life for a moment or two, then that means that we have connected in some way, which is the point of telling any story.
Paul W. Chappell
Georgia Born and Bred
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Georgia Bred 