This week's column

I think the phrase “you learn something new every day” holds true for most days. In fact, I learned something very interesting the other day.
I read an article in the Wall Street Journal about Curious George last week, and before you think I’m some sophisticated person who regularly reads the WSJ, I will confess that I read it because it was posted on a friend’s Facebook page and it sparked my interest.
The article not only talked about how the funny little monkey was created but how H.A. and Margret Rey, the authors and illustrators of the character, escaped from Nazi-occupied France.
In their escape, while on a train to Lisbon ,officials were suspicious of them and thought they were spies. When their satchel was searched all that was found was manuscripts of children’s books, including an early draft of “Fifi: The Adventurous Monkey,” who would later become George himself.
Because the contents were so trivial the Reys were released.
The art of the books is now on display at an exhibit titled “Curious George Saves the Day: The Art of Margret and H.A. Rey” at the Jewish Museum in New York and will soon go on tour to other museums.
I was engrossed in the story, but then again, you have to remember, I am a history nerd and eat this stuff up. I found yet another story about the Reys in a March issue of Pulse that gave even more interesting details to their life story.
I read the Curious George books to countless kids and never knew the story around their creators. The article even said that George’s many escapes drew a parallel to their escape from the Nazis, and the colorful backdrop of the illustrations speaks to their new American home in contrast to French art of their life in Paris.
It made me conscious of the fact that everyone has a story. From famous children’s book authors to the person down the street, everyone’s life has storied significance.
Nine times out of 10, when someone is interviewed for a feature story they will say, “But I’m not really that interesting.”
It’s after pen is put to paper and they see their story written in black and white that they realize their lives really do have some interesting aspects to them.
Some are elderly people who have had a series of interesting things happen in their lives, some have battled many obstacles or illnesses, and some are children who have interesting talents or have taken on responsibilities. These are stories of faith, stories of perseverance and stories of happenstance.
Life is a series of stories weaving in and out of lives, connecting to some and passing by others.
Any life has a story to it. Some lives have books written about them, some have movies made about them, some are featured in the news and some simply go on, living out their stories in day-to-day life.
So take the time to stop and talk to people in your life or even, in a non-creepy way, the person standing in front of you in the grocery line. You might get as engrossed in their stories as I did in the story of the Reys.