Southern Storytellers

[gentle music] - When I think about, like, the people in my life that brought me to becoming a storyteller, like my grandmother is without a doubt one of the first and foremost people.

My grandmother would constantly talk at me, just like would tell me story after story after story.

And I remember always saying [speaking in Vietnamese] And my grandmother, she said to me, "I keep telling you these stories because the only thing I have of value are my stories, because when I left Vietnam to come here, I was escaping.

I didn't have a chance to- to pack my bags, bring jewelry, photo albums, anything like that.

So the only thing I have to give you is stories.

This is what I have to give you."

And when she said that, it made me realize that story is the only thing any of us have of value.

It's the thing that we carry with us each and every day, it's the things we collect as we live life, it's the things we bestow onto our kids, to an audience, and it's the thing that we hold onto in our last dying days.