Everybody has a story, but only some stories get told. This year, on the tenth anniversary of FEST, “As Time Goes By” written by Audrey Nash, told the true love story of Nash’s great-grandparents. 

The play is set in the 1940s during World War II. In the first scene, Katherine (Nash’s great-grandmother) says goodbye to her first love named George as he is departing for war and makes him promise to write. After his letters stop arriving, Katherine assumes he has been killed in battle.

To help out her sad sister, Annie (Nash’s great-aunt) encourages Katherine to write to another soldier. Katherine starts writing to a sailor named Raymond (Nash’s great-grandfather) and the two continue writing to each other for months during the war. One day, Katherine hears on the radio that the aircraft carrier Raymond is on has been fatally damaged, and in the events following the chaos, Katherine finds a hidden stash of George’s letters. Upon questioning her sister, she discovers that Annie had hidden them from her in order for her to get over George.

The audience then watches as Katherine writes a letter apologizing and informing an unknown recipient that her heart belongs to someone else. When she has finished the letter, suddenly, there is a knock on the door. Raymond enters carrying a bouquet of daisies, asks Katherine to dance, and the rest is history, leading us back to the present.

Nash first heard the story while celebrating Christmas at her great grandma’s house.

“She sits in the same chair every Christmas, and this Christmas I just happened to be sitting next to her,” Nash said. “We gave her a picture of my great grandpa that my dad had found and she cried when she saw the picture.”

After opening the picture, Nash’s great grandma asked if she had heard the story of how they had met. 

“I just couldn’t get over the fact that the sister stole the letters,” Nash said. 

When asking great grandma Nash about her sister’s drastic actions she said, “I guess she just didn’t like me that much.”

Nash’s great grandmother was able to relive some of the most important events of her life while watching “As Time Goes By” on closing night of FEST. Nash said that her reaction was moving and seeing her cry was a moment that she will never forget.

Telling someone’s story is a powerful thing, especially when done right. Nash did justice to her great grandmother’s story and maintained the integrity of a unique and complicated love story. Every story deserves a chance to be told and everyone deserves to be touched by such a meaningful story.