My family’s house is under construction at the moment, so one day over break my mom, my sister, and I were deciding what we should throw away to make room in the house. We eventually came across a DVD of my parents’ wedding. My sister and I knew we had to watch it somehow, and my mom suggested that we break out the dusty old DVD player. As we watched the footage and saw the wedding photoshoots, my mom started to comment on what was happening behind the scenes that we couldn’t see on the screen. She recounted how everyone had to gather at both sides of the family’s houses, where ceremonial prayers would be done. Then, they all gathered at the wedding venue for the actual marriage ceremony. At the very end, they would all travel to a restaurant for the final celebrations and congratulatory wishes. My mom described how happy she felt at the time, with all the attention on her and all the well wishes from friends and family alike. She laughed at certain times such as when she and my dad had to go around to all the tables at the restaurant and thank them for coming. My sister and I were confused at first because they kept saying the same thing over and over again, but my mom answered that they had to go to all the tables while smiling fondly. I smiled when my mom commented on how pretty the dresses she wore were, playfully stating that she always knew how to find beautiful clothes.

While it may be obvious that this is a story, it is important to identify the components of a story that make it so. This is a story because it is a retelling of events by someone who directly experienced them. Also, it includes how the person felt when these events were occurring, not just a simple retelling. My mom told us the events of her and my dad’s wedding, but she also told us how happy she felt during the wedding. The process of collecting this story was not difficult because I didn’t have to initiate it. The story just naturally came about as we were watching the wedding videos.