by Sara Etgen-Baker
Although I was just a small girl during the late 50s and early 60s, I was keenly aware of the rhythmic cadence of my neighborhood. Every morning shortly after 7 a.m., my father and the other men in my neighborhood vacated their homes and boarded their pickup trucks. And, like clockwork, they departed from the neighborhood leaving behind their wives and children. Once the men were gone for the day, the women vacated their homes and by 8 a.m. gathered around one another’s kitchen tables for what the women called their table talk.
And because I was one of only two girls in the immediate neighborhood, I accompanied my mother when she attended these seemingly clandestine meetings. At each meeting, I pulled up a stool; sat next to my mother; and breathed in the smell of dark, rich black coffee as it wafted through the air of their cramped, cracker box kitchens. I sat motionless and silent, sipping on hot cocoa and listening while the women drank their coffee, told their stories, served up their secrets, shared their struggles, and offered up their compassion and humanity. Throughout the years, they cultivated a culture of trust that allowed them to feel comfortable and supportive as they shared some of their most intimate truths.
Although the times were changing all around them, this trust held them together; and they continued telling their stories. Their stories—as rich and robust as their coffee—were full of strength, insight, and wisdom. From their stories, I gleaned an unbelievable amount of perspective that I carried with me as I ventured off to college and entered womanhood. No matter what situation or struggle I encountered, I could remember one of those table talk stories and know what to do.
So what happened to those table talks? I suppose they disappeared as my generation of women entered the workforce, began our careers, and started our families. But the absence of table talks created a void—a void that up until recently hadn’t been filled.
Then in 1997 Susan Witting-Albert founded the Story Circle Network—an organization dedicated to helping women once again share the stories of their lives. Seventeen years later, women—thirsty for stories—gathered for this year’s SCN conference in Austin, Texas. Women from different cultures and generations sat around tables, listened to one another, and shared their writings and their stories.
After the conference I realized one thing: Women crave stories. We yearn to tell our stories; we need to fill the void; we must to return to our table talk. The Story Circle Network cultivates a culture of trust and, in so doing, fills that void and allows us to gather together and once again share our secrets and hidden truths. I am delighted to be a part of a tremendous organization and legacy.
