Mama Helen

Storytelling was a gift that was given to me by my grandmother. She was one of the most intriguing and amazing storytellers that I've ever witnessed in this lifetime. She would speak of instances where it seemed as if the story was tragic but by the end of it you were in stitches from laughter. I learned of the healing power and significance of her storytelling once when she carried me along with her to the hospital to visit a close friend who was taking her last breaths (my grandmother quite often felt it was important for me to tag along with her). When we reached the hospital, the dying woman's daughter told my grandmother, "Ms. McGee, make her laugh. Can you please just make her laugh for me." My grandmother began to tell a story to the woman in the hospital bed and you could just feel the relief in the room as she began. It was at this moment that I recognized the power of my grandmother's words and stories. She had completely transformed a space from being a place of quiet and sorrow into a space of joy and laughter which then welcomed the beauty in the transition of this woman's life. It is from my grandmother's existence that I continue to be that storyteller through my music and my life. So when my aunt gave me my first guitar and told me that she would only let me keep it if I made a promise to her that I would continue to play, it only made sense to me to combine 2 of the greatest gifts I've ever received and turn them into an art form that has changed my life into a eternal exhibit of stories and music.