Telling Stories through Murals

I truly loved reading "Murals as Text", it was so enlightening and parts of it were very emotional. There was a quote from one section that really spoke to me,  "Telling stories is one way in which storytellers may position themselves in relation to their families, their communities, and the larger world ... Rushdie (2005) argued that becoming part of the family involves learning the family’s stories... Families are about storytelling, and ... stories are a badge of family membership... (323)". I sent this article to my Aunt in Texas with the above quote highlighted. My Aunt is retired, but still takes classes and work shops at the University of Texas. She is currently taking a writing class called "Writing your Life Stories and Family History" it's based on a system of guided autobiography. I think that most people have a natural tendency to want to share their history, in this case, my Aunt is writing a shutterfly type book for her grandchildren with pictures and stories about their parents when they were younger. Even though this and the murals are two very different literacy events, they share the same theme and purpose. The intent in both is to share memories and open dialogue about the family and relationships in the family - past, present, and future. My Aunt is going to share this writing with her class - I'm sure they'll have a lot of great insights to share.