Seanchaí

A seanchaí is a traditional Irish storyteller and keeper of oral history, folklore, and mythology

QUE SERÁ SERÁ

I have lived in the fantastic world of a storyteller’s mind since I was 2 years old. The first story I ever heard I still remember. I remember how I felt as I listened .Just as the first song I remember is embedded in my memory, it is still within me. My grandfathers gentle croon still whispers in my ear. I not only remember the sound, but the security I felt sitting on his lap as he sang, Que sera sera has so often been proven to be true. Almost 60 years later, six decades of manic time have passed but each time I meet adversity I hear him sing , “whatever will he will be, the futures not ours to see , que sera sera.” Somehow the whisper gives me hope. My stories are all time capsules of life moments when those words saved me. Some funny , some sad, some crazy. There are people who might say that the song que sera sera is a parable of impossible hopes , that it is an admission of our inability to control our lives. The truth is, it is the gift of acceptance.

Many times I have faced a wall of pain, an impossible and hopeless future, but the whisper saved me. I knew, this is what it is! That empowered me , simply because my acceptance of the moment drew a line under it, and I could hope again. “The future’s not ours to see “ Indeed. We need not know the future, we must live with the now.

So many dreams as a child, unfulfilled. And yet so many undreamt of wishes fulfilled. I have been given what was meant to be for me, and it had been better than hoped for, more painful than I could ever imagine and so surprising that none of my stories could have predicted it. During the time of Que sera sera I have always had my stories, and now is the time to tell them. Will you remember them ? Who knows. Just listen! Some day my whispers in your ear may save you sanity,just as my grandfathers did me., for you will surely someday feel pain so deep there will seem to be no way out. But if you close you eyes you will hear me whisper and know that everything is possible . Everything. Thank you Granda Ryan for the gift of your love and wisdom, for telling me my first story, for singing me my first song, and above all for teaching me that a storyteller has more power than we can ever imagine.