WHO was/were the most influential persons in your life so far and why?

S

smiley

Senior Member
Location
Australia
Hi you don't need to answer this if you don't wish etc. I was born in the closing years of WWII and Da was still away - obviously Ma was the most influential for a while and unfortunately all I can recall was business - strictness and no real kindness. I think that must have put a rod of steel somewhere in me?

Da finally got back home alive and was the opposite to Ma - suppose that's how they attracted? - he was cuddly ; kind ; attentive and mischievious and for a youngster fun! He was like that for all his kids well two more to be precise - Da and Ma were like ying and yang? - Ma was the disciplinarian and carried the rule book Da quietly broke the rules in our favours!

Grandparents and aunts and uncles were just distant curios - none were really children orientated except one - the youngest girl in a family of 12 kids - she used discipline if at all in a quiet way and always had time for us as individuals. She eventually got married to an Irish man who strangely was the opposite to her and was always poking fun at all the kids including his own. So I suppose you could say there was a smargosboard of personalities in which to grow and bounce our youngselves around with?

I had a brother - miss him always - he died too young - we had some contact as youngsters but not a lot - he went with his gang and I with mine. My sister seemed to be left out of all the mixes and she tells me she felt that too. But after moving in with paternal grandparents we all three returned daily to our lower level roots and played with old friends and mates!

Looking back there was an old friend very close but he eventually broke off ties and to this day can't understand why etc etc. So looking back and overall it has to be DA - calm ; quiet ; thoughtful ; poetry writer [usually all family centred/orientated] - yea he's gotta be the winner above a couple of wives on the way too!!
 

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My paternal grandmother was my rock when I was little. We lived in a section of my grandmother’s huge old farmhouse and she took care of me when my mother was at work. She included me in every aspect of her life and was constantly teaching me in an easygoing matter of fact manner. I was very fortunate not to be parked in front of the television or sent off to daycare like so many millions of small children.

During my tweens and teens I had few friends but there are two that truly accepted and understood me, they are still friends today even though we haven’t seen each other in years we stay in touch through Facebook.

During my adult life I secretly adopted various models in my life when it came to dressing for work, managing my career, finances, investments, etc… Imitation being the sincerest form of flattery.

As far as friends in my adult life there have been very few and only one is still living.

No complaints, it’s the quality of the relationships in my life that have been important to me, not the quantity.
 
I think I tried to take the best parts of anyone who spent most time with me.
Each person had this certain flare for something that made them special.
I find I pull up their memory when situations come up that can be connected to them.
I am an Irish Stew made of multiple heroes in my life.
 
My parents and grandparents - even my aunt and uncle - all of them - taught me values, and the difference between right and wrong, but in my youth, I often didn't follow them. Only my wife could provide me the motivation to live by those principles.
 
Several old timer farmers that were neighbors when I was a kid. As a feral kid from a dysfunctional family those old timers kind of mentored me, they taught me that hard work and integrity made a man. I may have been a slow learner but earning their respect always made me keep one foot on the side of good.
 
My dad. He was intelligent, funny, made straight A's in college, didn't yell, didn't hit anyone, worked hard and long hours, got medals in the USAF (including, for reasons unknown, a leather peace symbol), was honest, stayed out of debt, didn't commit crimes, had integrity, just an overall great guy. Plus, he never gave me bad advice. It was like having a genie you could double-check with so you wouldn't make a mistake, except he had tons of hair, and wasn't bald. Aren't you supposed to rub a genie's head?

He made a few mistakes, all forgiven practically when they occurred.

(1) When I traded my sister a penny for a dime, he unfairly gave her a dime.

(2) When I was 7, I fought off 3 ten year old boys who were trying to push me into a deep hole in the woods. I attacked them with full gusto! My father didn't call the MPs because I couldn't describe them and didn't know their names. He should have been outside hunting them down. Or I should have sacrificed them.

(3) He wouldn't let me start a yard business because I was a girl and girls don't do yard work. Meanwhile, my 6 years younger brother was raking it in!

(4) When I was 10, he taught my sister and I to play chess. Can you say boring??????? So while I went out and had fun on weekends, my sister had 7 boys come over on Saturday nights to play chess. All eggheads. I used to try to get my dog to take a chomp out of them. Then my 2nd sister loved chess and became the president of the chess club in high school *and* head cheerleader! I just love that juxtaposition. No boys came over to play chess with her ... she went out with them instead. Smart girl.

(5) When I was in high school I was allowed to date when I was 16. That sounds okay, right? Dad made me invite every boy who asked me out to the house so he could meet them, 3 times, before I could go out with them. This was not cool. I turned down a date several times with the captain of the football team because of my dad.

So I invited a platonic friend of mine over. He played the guitar. He taught my mom to sing that My Ding-a-Ling song at the top of her lungs. I don't think she knew what the song was about. My Mom adored this guy and would give us rides everywhere. We were like brother and sister.
 
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Mr. Pedro, my HS lab assistant. He took me under his wing and straightened me out. I spent every free period in his lab. He had a notebook filled with thank you notes from my former students who he also helped.
 

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