Dude, not in Miss Megan's class!

Megan is a talented writer and a poetic storyteller. I got a chance to know Megan while working with her at an after school program with some of her creative writing students at Stiver’s School for the Arts. Megan is passionate about her students, along with her role at the YWCA, and watching Megan with her students says a lot about the woman that she is.

Megan’s students love her. They hang around after school for a chance to tell her stories about the lunchroom or their sister at home or to show her a picture. She genuinely listens to them and encourages them. But the story that has stuck me is the time that I witnessed her reprimanding a student.

I don’t remember what the student had done, but I remember Megan firmly and respectfully telling him to stop whatever he was doing and how she expected better. The room went quiet for a moment and she went back to talking to another student who was waiting for her.

And the people sitting near the young man leaned into him, saying things like “Dude, not in Miss Megan’s class.”

And “What the hell, man?”

Similar comments were muttered until the young man shook his head and slouched in his seat and turned to them and said, “I know, alright!” and they all stopped.

Megan is not only loved, she is respected. And this extends outside of the classroom and into the world. You cannot help but love Megan’s bubbly personality and when you get to know Megan’s drive, passion, and impact, you cannot help but respect her.

Megan’s story is about facing gunfire in some far off place. And with the events that have happened in Dayton, OH over the past week, her story will hit home in a way that we could not have imagined when she agreed to get on stage over a month ago.

Her story is timely and relevant and inspiring. It reminds us that survival is more than simply breathing, it is about making the most of what we have experienced so that we leave the world a better place.

Come see Megan on stage as part of the LORE Mainstage: I Survived event on August 15, 2019 at 7:00 PM at 40 N Main St in Downtown Dayton.

She is a warrior

When Jackie told her story at Pitch Night, I was engaged. She was captivating. When I found out later that she has a theater background, I was not surprised. Jackie knows how to engage an audience.

Jackie began her story that night with a list of tragedies: death and loss and near death and violence and abandonment. The list doesn’t sound real. All of that in one life? No, that is not possible. It is not possible that this beautiful, soft spoken, wide-eyed woman before me has seen all of that in one lifetime. But it is true. Jackie has seen more than most.

I am not sure that Jackie realizes just how powerful she is. Her apologies are a little too frequent and her voice is a little too soft. But her history speaks loudly: Jackie is a warrior. She had endured hardships that might have broken a lesser person. Jackie has climbed from the depths of darkness and emerged stronger, brighter and more brilliant. Her sweet softness is a choice because she has earned the right to be bitter.

Her story will leave you breathless. Her performance will leave you wanting more. And when you meet her, don’t let her soft exterior full you, Jackie is a warrior.

Jackie inspires that strength within each one us to rise and stand up. And I don't know about you, but I could use that kind of inspiration right now. Come to LORE Mainstage: I SURVIVED and be inspired.

Maybe We Are All Still Recovering.

I didn't know Zack very well until IT happened. I knew his brother as a respected business owner in Dayton, I had heard about Zack's musical abilities and we had friends in common, but Zack and I were, at best, acquaintances.

Zack was in Louisville and he was attacked. From what I understood, he was in the hospital barely hanging on to his life. And his friends were here in Dayton. I imagined him in that cold room in a strange city, bleeding from his brain and I decided to visit.

I had already planned to be in Louisville for a storytelling event, so instead of leaving Dayton in the afternoon for the evening show, I left in the morning and I drove to the hospital to see this young man that I barely knew.

He looked terrible. He had a tube coming out of his head. He was so drugged that he was sleeping when I walked it, unaware of the noise. I sat silently for awhile, unaware of what to do. I closed my eyes and sent well wishes his way. When he woke for a moment, he didn’t recognize me. And why would he? I was practically a stranger and he had fractured his skull! And so I gave him a small gift bag and asked if he minded if I sat with him for a little while.

I don’t think that we spoke much before I left. I wished him well and I meant it.

And I went to the Moth Story Slam and drove home.

After Zack began his recovery, we had a chance to talk, for real. He shared stories, I shared stories. We found that we had a lot in common.

Today, I am proud to call Zack Sliver a friend. His story of survival is vulnerable and unbelievable. He has transformed his own personal tragedy into triumph. His story is still being written and he is still recovering.

Maybe we all are. Maybe we are all still recovering.

Come out and hear Zack’s survival story at LORE Mainstage: I SURVIVED on August 15, 2019 at 7PM at 40 N Main St, Dayton OH.

Zack telling a story