Once Upon A Time...

I love stories. I love telling stories. And I love being told stories. On numerous occasions, I have asked John to tell me a story. He usually follows with "What kind of a story?" and I don't usually have a real answer. Just a story. Make it up. I don't care. Just tell me a story.
While reading Neil Gaiman's blog (I love it and I love that he updates it regularly...in fact it's hard to keep up...which I also love), he mentioned someone who wrote in asking how to keep the voices straight while reading a story aloud. He read for his daughter, he said, and wanted it to be more enjoyable for her and for him by being able to keep the different character's voices distinct.
This reminded me of an ex. It's funny how so many things can remind you of an ex and not always the typical things like "relationships, heart ache, truths and lies, etc." This ex is still a friend...probably my only friend-ex. But a disconnected sort of friend. We catch up when we see each other and then we go our merry way. We don't write or call or chat or really anything. This friend has a daughter who was 5 at the time we were dating. One of her favorite places to be was Barnes and Noble. Most Saturday mornings, my friend would take her there to listen to their story time and then help one of the employees sort books in the children's section. She was very good at this. Often times, my friend would read a book to her himself after story time or if it wasn't story time he would read one. On a few occasions, she would ask me to read her books. I get shy in public places when I read allowed. Mainly because of one reason: I'm a voice actress. I've been told I have a radio voice and I should use it to act or do whatever-it-is-you-can-do-on-the-radio. So when I read allowed (especially children's books) I can get loud and elaborate. I read for my friend's daughter a few times. And I noticed something each time. She stared me down like I was the weirdest thing she had ever encountered. I kept my voices and characters pretty tame because of this and didn't get too far into it. But she always gave me the most curious look. She finally asked me once while reading "Why do you make your voice like that?" with a giggle. I can't say I wasn't embarrassed. I later asked my friend what that was about and he told me why and then everything made sense. He didn't read to her in voices. In fact, he had never been read to in voices before. His parents simply read him a book and that was it. To me that's not really telling a story. It's just reading a book. There's a difference...there really is. And sadly, my friend and his daughter had never heard a story in their life. This is so hard for me to relate to. I come from a long line of story-tellers, elaboraters, poets, writers, fools. Okay maybe not fools. But the thought of never hearing a story in voices...is that even possible? Everything I do is in voices (my coworkers can confirm this). My pets have voices, getting ready has a voice, making food, walking, singing, thinking, working, being done work. Everything I do has a voice. It's how I keep myself entertained when I'm alone...or not alone. I can barely even imagine it without a voice. I think I've always read books with the characters voices in my head. That's one thing I love about Neil...you can't deny the presence and identity of his characters. What about you? Do you read with voices? And can you hear them when you read? Are you enjoying stories or merely reading books?