Shared Stories column ends after 5-year run

DOWNEY – For the last five years, The Downey Patriot has featured a weekly column titled Shared Stories: The Ties That Bind. In Shared Stories, the students of a writing class held at the Norwalk Senior Center through the Cerritos College Adult Education Program were given the opportunity to share their memoirs to their friends, family, and on a greater scale, their community abroad.

Through the work of curator Carol Kearns, the Patriot has published over 250 stories from at least 45 different authors, all ranging from different topics, backgrounds and cultures.

Now, almost exactly five years later, it has come time for the column to close.

Kearns joined the class around November of 2010, and was so moved by the people and stories she encountered that she decided to reach out to the Patriot.

“The stories were so powerful. The group itself was so powerful,” said Kearns. “These are stories from people who came from so many different places around the world…It was just such a powerful experience after a couple of years I thought other people would love to hear these stories as well.”

Since then Kearns has collected stories week by week and submitted them for publication, keeping a near-perfect record without missing a week for five years.

Kearns says she would choose which stories to submit based on variety over writing ability.

“I always tried to get stories by everybody. That was the priority, it wasn’t who was the best writer,” said Kearns. “Everybody had powerful stories to tell. Even if they were just humorous stories, they were stories that contributed…I guess I was just looking for good stories and to make sure I had as many as possible from everyone.”

Those writers included 73-year-old Yolanda Adele and 80-year-old Sharon Smith.

Adele described it as a “shortcut to friendship.”

“When you write, you realize that so many things are universal,” said Adele. “Everybody has a story, and it’s so freeing when you can tell your story. If it weren’t for this class, a lot of our family members would have no inkling, because they just see us as older adults not realizing that we were young once too…we reveal ourselves through our stories, through our different layers.”

“It brings our class together that we know more about one another,” added Smith.

Adele, Smith and Kearns all described the writing process as “validating.”

“There are things that sometimes I thought I couldn’t share, and I was very timid,” said Adele. “After I shared someone would say, ‘Well, I went through that’…seeing it in print, it’s kind of like ‘you’re doing alright.’”

“I’m excited every time one of my articles makes the paper,” said Smith. “That’s what it’s all about.”

“It’s overwhelming for some of them. That’s what they tell me,” said Kearns. “The stories involve very significant lifechanging events. People told me that they were able to tell their families after seeing it in print. Seeing their memories in print has given some of these people courage.”

The class behind the Shared Stories column is spearheaded by teacher Bonnie Mansell.

“It’s an amazing experience,” said Mansell. “I have been teaching this class since 1999…I was finding that the most interesting stories that my students wrote, and the easiest time they had at writing good stories, was the stories about themselves.”

Mansell reinforced the validated feeling her students get after seeing their work in the newspaper.

“They just love having the larger market,” said Mansell. “It’s a bigger market, it’s a larger audience that’s going to read it…I think for everyone it’s an inspiration. I think it encourages them to try and do their best.”

As the column finishes its run, Kearns says it’s “bittersweet.”

“I really want to keep doing it, but I’ve taken on other obligations and there are also other things that I’m interested in,” said Kearns.

Downey Patriot Editor Eric Pierce thanked the class for their participation.

“For five years Shared Stories exemplified the best of community journalism. Whether the stories were tragic, sad, funny or inspirational, they were always written with a sense of honesty and vulnerability,” said Pierce.

“The Patriot is incredibly thankful to the Cerritos College writing class for sharing their personal stories on a weekly basis. Their contributions will be missed.”