As I think about it, in some ways we seem to be a collection of our stories.   We have stories of our childhoods, stories of our first loves, stories of our careers, our children, our elders, our cultures. Stories of loss and pain. Stories that we tell others and stories that we tell ourselves. Tahir Shah, in Arabian Nights , tells us that "Stories are a communal currency of humanity. I was thinking about this today as I sat after dinner listening to my husband (in his 70's) and his friend (in this 80's) tell some stories about their childhoods, their parents, and about their experiences in the military before or during the Viet Nam War.   I could see their eyes lighting up in the retelling.  I could sense how vivid were their memories.  I listened to stories (some that I had heard a number of times) about sleeping in a house crowded with numerous relations, trying to sleep with the noise of all of the men snoring.   About older siblings who cared...