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In 2015, eighty-five year old Theresa "Tuts" Lucking (it's ok, she told us how old she was) shared her life experiences and wisdom with StoryTelling America. Recently, Tuts' younger sister (Nellie Whipple) her daughter (Barb Ginther) and grandson (Andy Lucking) watched Tuts' story. We wanted to know what they thought about it. Here's some things they had to say.

Did you learn anything about Tuts that you didn't already know?

Nellie: I'm two years younger than Tuts, but I never knew how she got that nickname.

Tuts' Nickname Origins

 

"My Story:  Tuts Lucking" 
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What makes this a "Legacy" for you and your family?

Andy: You see your grandma as a grandma, always. Never as a mom or a young person.

Barb: The life that she has experienced, from horse and buggy and now people having seen men go to the moon, it's kind of crazy.

Andy: I've heard family stories my whole life, but I never from grandma. How many times did I go to grandma house and never even looked at those pictures? They were in a closet not but two feet from where I sat every time I went to the house. They never came out. 

 
 Growing Up

I'm asked, "Why do people want to tell their stories?"  Surprisingly, it's not about fame or even being remembered for all time (though families will).  It's really about wanting to share memories and experiences and letting children and grandchildren for generations know what really mattered most to them. It's important to let others know despite difficulties they perservered and survived. It's about giving advice and passing on values.

What value is this for your kids and grandkids?

Barb: My kids have seen the "Tuts" video. Through it they got to know her in a different way. They weren't even thinking that grandma would be old enough for horse and buggy and one room school house.

Andy: I don't have any children, but hopefully one day my children will be able to see my grandmother, which is pretty cool.

Barb: For my grandchildren, mom's great-greats. They are not going to know her twenty years from now when they really want to know her. Now they'll be able to see her face and hear her voice and get to know her when they are old enough to appreciate it. 

 
 Nellie, Andy and Barb react to Tuts' "Nun or Not"


Did she share any secrets for a long and lasting marriage?
  (Tuts and her husband Ray were married for 60 years. He's since passed away.)

Barb: I like the part where mom said you just learned which strings not to pull if you want to get along.

Barb:
She said I never looked for anybody else and neither did dad. Mom put up with dad's going to the Y, he's a storyteller, he's a flirter, he likes to sing, he likes to charm people and she just rolled with that. She could have been jealous about that, but she didn't have anything to be jealous about. She just like to watch him do his entertaining.
 

 
 Ray and Tuts...getting along 60 years...

 

"My Story:  Tuts Lucking"
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Would you encourage others to do this?

Andy: Why wait, there is not many reasons not to do it. You can't really come up with one just the general him-ho, "I don't want to be on a video." I don't want to be on a video either, but here I am.

Barb:
I would say just "do it." It's an opportunity that could be gone in a blink of an eye.


Andy:
It's not just about one generation leaving a legacy or talking about themselves. It's about the connection. Well...do you want to meet them.
 

Though she said that she didn’t profess to be a wise old owl, 85 year old Tuts Lucking’s advice on "what's right" certainly spoke to the contrary.

From her kitchen table, this '"old owl" proved to be quite a hoot.

 
 Tuts - Some words to live by...


To see the entire video "My Story:  Tuts Lucking", click here.