Weitkamp bills herself as a humorist and storyteller; most of her stories are a lot of laughs, but watch out. There's often a deep twist at the end: joke, joke, joke--and then you're weeping.

"Laughter and tears are close relatives," she observed. "They both require trust and openness."

Weitkamp has a repertoire of tall tales, childhood stories, leadership stories and original songs. She also tells a story about her "gabbiness" gift.

The first time she told it, 40 children came up to tell her they had "the gift," too. They were ecstatic to be recognized.

"This was a great payoff for me," Weitkamp said. "To be accepted for who I am and to help others."

It has been a good year so far. She has been elected president of Virginia Storytelling Alliance, named National Youth Storytelling representative for Virginia--and founded the Wrinkles Project, a national campaign to help senior citizens tell their life stories.

Su Clauson-Wicker is a freelance writer living in Blacksburg.