Collin County Living Well Magazine May/June 2016 | Page 21

Prisons

Since the Richardsons had a strong reputation in the drug
and rehab system, it was only natural that they’d be asked
to begin telling at prisons.

hadn’t talked in weeks, months, even years will say ‘I stole
a melon once,’” Gene says. “Then they start to remember.”
He says they have seen these types of results many times.

“Some of the state prisons actually are devoted to drug and
alcohol treatment, and the prisoners there are there for that
reason,” Peggy says.

“The reminiscence bubbles up and they remember things
that they thought they had forgotten,” Gene says. “It kind of
helps to rewire the brain and improves their quality of life.”

Today, the Richardsons are mostly involved with the Ft.
Worth federal penitentiary. “It’s a federal medical facility
for women,” Peggy says.

Citing much research, Gene describes how patients involved in reminiscence have decreased blood pressure,
lower cortisol and a decreased need for pain medication.

They have performed for a program that runs the women through almost a year-long program for starting over
again, dealing with jobs, budgets, and coping skills, with
a mother-child day camp for incarcerated moms, and in the
prison’s hospice group.

Dallas Storytelling Guild

Gene loves the day camp because of the many opportunities it allows.
“They get to go outside and play games and they wanted

As special as this couple is, they are not alone in their passion
for storytelling.
In fact, when they originally decided to begin storytelling full
time, they moved in with Elizabeth Ellis, a Dallas local and
renowned storyteller and shadowed her, traveling the country
on a festival main stage route.
In the end, Peggy said she prefers to be able to hug the people she’s just told to and a crowd the size of a festival main
stage may not exactly make that possible.
But wanting to stay in the Dallas area does not limit them.
Among a number of other Texas guilds, that Dallas Storytelling
Guild hosts more than 30 members, who share similar interests but a variety of paths to how they got there.

us to come and tell stories for the kids and the mothers,”
Gene says. “It was a great opportunity to reinforce the value of narrative as ‘how do you look at this situation with
mommy away?’ and talk to them about the various stories
and lessons you need to have.”
Alzheimer’s and Hospice
Just like in the prison’s end-of-life area, in hospice, the Richardsons focused on helping to distract and decrease pain.
“There’s no cure for death but there’s an easier way to die,”
Gene offers. “Telling in hospice is a great way to do that.”
One of those physiological examples he’s referring to is
part of their work with Alzheimer’s disease.
Telling to Alzheimer’s patients is a challenge, they acknowledge.
“Sometimes they get up and walk away or sometimes they
start talking, but a lot of times if you’re telling a story about
kids peeling watermelons, all the sudden somebody who

Peggy listed membership including everything from librarians, motivational speakers, professional tellers, a motherdaughter team from India, business people, and those working to learn English.
“We also have two members of the Dallas Storytelling Guild
who no longer live in the United States,” Peggy recalls. “One
lives in Norway, and the other in Oman. They’re both ESL
teachers, and they use storytelling as part of their ESL classes.”
The universality of a story, the couple explains, is key to its
effective aid in language acquisition.
“The Chinese have a Cinderella story, and they recognize the
motif, and it brings them into ways to use language and words
that they wouldn’t normally use because so many stories are
told in the vernacular.”
Impacting people worldwide through the use of stories and
faith in their ability to help heal, the Richardsons continue to
tell stories as their contribution to society.
Says Gene, “You change the world one narrative at a time.”

To learn more about Gene and Peggy Richardson and find out where they’ll be telling, visit their website at www.twicetellers.com.
COLLIN COUNTY Living Well Magazine | MAY/JUNE 2016

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