Stories from our neck of the woods
Everyone has a story.
We started sharing some of them on Monday as part of “My American Story,” the newspaper’s monthlong series launched to celebrate America’s 250th birthday.
The daily series was conceived as a way to pay tribute to our wonderfully diverse Western Pennsylvania population, whose forefathers settled here for the myriad opportunities and abundant natural resources the region has to offer.
We selected our subjects at random, approaching folks on park benches, in coffee shops, on sidewalks – even in cemeteries – and asked them why chose Washington, Greene or Fayette County to live, work and raise their families.
We weren’t sure how receptive they would be to our queries, and were pleasantly surprised by their willingness to share. Few declined our interview request, which speaks volumes about the friendly and welcoming nature of the people who make up our communities.
So far, we’ve introduced readers to a retired nurse we encountered while she was tending to her parents’ grave in Canonsburg; a woman who enjoys fishing at Cross Creek County Park’s lake to relieve job stress; and a Rices Landing home body who sang the praises of his bucolic river town. And a chance meeting in a coffee shop yielded a serendipitous exchange with a man who moved to Washington County from the state of California 15 years ago and now boasts about his adopted town to his West Coast friends.
We were struck by their transparency and their eagerness to speak candidly about themselves, their families and their challenges. One mother recalled her struggles raising autistic children during a time when services and support were not available.
Our project clearly demonstrates the desire for human interaction, particularly at a time when cellphones and other electronic devices have hijacked our attention from engaging in face-to-face conversation.
If you missed any of our stories, you can read them online at observer-reporter.com. Click on news in the dropdown menu, then My American Story.
And next time you find yourself enjoying a cup of coffee or standing in line at the pharmacy, look up from your phone and strike up a conversation with the person nearby.
You might be pleasantly surprised by the response. You might brighten a stranger’s day. And who knows? You might even make a friend.