This special episode of the podcast has been lovingly referred to as The Surrounding Episode." It was an experiment to tell parts of previously released recorded stories in a new way.
No matter where you are listening to this podcast, the aim is to take you into the space into the story. “The Surrounding Episode” is best listened to with headphones on, as a way to escape the world around you for about eight minutes, while you listen. Through music and sounds effects, the episode is meant to relax you and allow you to listen to the story in a new way.
This episode was originally produced by Jeff Allen and recorded live in St. Louis
This special episode was dreamed up by Kaliice Walker, produced by Kaliice Walker and Steven Harowitz, and edited, mixed, and mastered by Sam Maul at Shock City Studios in St. Louis, Missouri.
Delores Martin:
Labels can influence the flow of your life, impact who you become, and cast a shadow on how you see yourself.
Steven Harowitz:
Hello, Internet. I'm Steven Harowitz, and I'll be your host for this episode of The Campfire Storytelling Podcast recorded here in St. Louis, Missouri. In this episode, we have something extra special for you, because we have a story from our past designed to make it feel very present. We asked past fellow Delores Martin, if we could breathe new life into her story by making it feel as if we were back in that space. But for now, let's not waste any more time. Let's get to the story. Please help me in welcoming Delores to the Campfire.
Delores Martin:
My first experience with labels was with my family. Go figure, right? Everything starts at home. I am the oldest of four. My sister Joyce is just 15 months behind me or after me. And then Mom and Dad gave us a brother and a sister further on down the line, a few years after that. But being that my sister and I were so close in age, my mom kind of treated us like we were twins. So we had matching dresses, matching shoes, matching hair-dos, even matching dowels. It was crazy. Yeah, until we threw a big enough fit, and swhe was like, "Okay, I give up." And she stopped. But my parents would introduce us like this."This is Delores. She's our oldest, and she's the smart one. This is Joyce. She's the pretty one. She's our glamour girl." Now I don't in any way think that my parents intentionally gave us labels in order to hurt us. I am pretty secure in knowing that my parents loved us and gave us their best. But those labels did not go without impact or come and go without impact. Now being that smart one was kind of cool growing up. My parents taught me a lot of grown up stuff. And I kind of fell into the role of the third parent to my siblings. My parents wouldn't even lease an apartment without me checking out the space and the neighborhood, because if I liked it, the other kids would like it. One of my fondest memories. So we lived in this really nice apartment. It had beautiful hardwood floors, high ceilings, the living room and dining room with this was a huge open space. The kitchen was in the middle of the apartment or floorplan. Is that what you would say? Yeah, and on the opposite side of the kitchen, on the far end, it was a long hallway that led to the bedrooms and the bath. And between the living room space and the kitchen space were these beautiful French doors. Now I don't remember a whole lot about the decor, like, you know, paint on the wall or wallpaper. I just remember this orange swivel chair that sat in one corner of the living room. And us kids were not allowed to sit in that chair. Because of course we didn't sit. We swiveled. And it would make my mom so mad. That's crazy. This particular day we were home alone. My mom went to the store, which was really right around the corner from us and charged us to be good kids while she was gone for those few minutes, right. My brother and sister, Robert and Cynthia, those are the two youngest ones, were playing in one of the bedrooms. And you could hear the play go from play to squabble to licks being passed, and all of a sudden Cynthia bursts out of the bedroom. She's running down the hall and Robert is hot on her tail and she's coming down the hall and she runs to the kitchen and she runs through the kitchen right to the French doors and the doors are closed. She hits it in her arm goes through the glass, and when she pulls it back, the glass slashes her arm in the bend of her elbow. Blood gushes everywhere. She's screaming. Robert's screaming. It's crazy. So I calm them down, and I make a tourniquet for her arm. Yeah, I still feel that little beam of pride, because when mom got home from ER she shared with me how impressed the triage people were with my first steps. Mom taught me first aid. Yay. So the smart one saves the day. Yay. As much as I embrace being the smart one. I also embrace the unspoken label of being that"not pretty" one. And this label shadowed me. My parents didn't speak it. My siblings didn't speak it. Even I did not speak it. But every time I passed the mirror, every time I sat in a gathering of our family and friends, every time I stepped into a room full of people, I saw and I felt "not pretty" Delores. See, when the "smart one" got introduced, people would respond with a smile and a nod. And when the "pretty one" got introduced, there would be oohs and ahhs and compliments that flowed like music. Yes, this did stir up some envy and sister rivalry. But that's a whole 'nother story.
Steven Harowitz:
That is a wrap. You can make sure to hear stories from all of our other storytellers by subscribing to The Campfire Storytelling Podcast, wherever you get your podcasts. And if you liked what you heard, please leave a review. It helps others find our podcast and support our students. We'd love to have you come out to an event or take a class visit cmpfr.com That's C M P F R.com for all the details. Whether you live in St. Louis or nowhere nearby, there are ways to attend our events virtually. You can find out more at cmpfr.com. That's C M P F R.com. As always a big thank you to our storyteller Delores, the Campfire team, and everybody who attends these live events. Thanks for listening to the podcast. I've been your host Steven Harowitz. Until next time.