| Apr 13, 2006 @ 1:20 AM |
Important People in our lives/ who helped make us who we are
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grumblebear
Posts: 10,491
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My Maternal Grandmother was an interesting person. When my mother was 12, her father died. Grandma had a large victorian two story house that she turned into a boarding house.
She took in laundry, did what was needed to survive. I remember as a little kid going next door to Grandma's when my parents left for work... She'd be up fixing breakfast for the "boys" as she called her boarders. she would get up at 4 am, and make bag lunches, and coffee for all the thermos's, then cereal, eggs, sausage, toast, hash, etc...
after breakfast she would start the laundry, she had washtubs soaking different laudry for certain households, she had an old Wringer washer that everything went through, there was an old woodburning stove in the basement that she cooked the starch, and blueing as she went... no dryer, there were clotheslines outside, as well as lines across the livingroom... I remember her mother, (My Great Grandmother) sitting in her wheelchair darning socks...
around noon she'd take a break, (lol) fix lunch, bake a couple cakes or pies for dinner, and start ironing... she would be fixing dinner as she ironed, her mother peeling potatoes from her chair, (great grandma was an invalid, she'd had a couple strokes)...
Dinner would be served the "boys" would eat, meanwhile she and her mother would be ironing darning, folding and packaging clothes for the people who were picking up laundry.... people would drop clothes on day 1, and 2 days later pick it up clean, Ironed, starched or not... and wrapped in tissue paper...
of course she did that to get by... up until 1975 when she went into a nursing home... her own health gone...
and people today think its tough....
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| Apr 13, 2006 @ 1:36 AM |
Important People in our lives/ who helped make us who we are |
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wandaful123
Posts: 1,511
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Now thats impressive Grumble  I can relate to the wood stove, keeps me warm, chopping, splitting and carrying keeps me fit and just plain feels great! But no dryer? Oh No! couldn't live without it in the winter. What a wuss eh?
The two most important folks in my life were from both ends of the spectrum. One was a nun, my grade 8 teacher, the other our "town drunk"... came from a pretty wicked place and possibly could have gone in any direction if it hadn't been for their faith in me. Funny the gifts we are given and the packages they come wrapped in...
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| Apr 13, 2006 @ 1:50 AM |
Important People in our lives/ who helped make us who we are
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LipGlossQueen9
Posts: 10,088
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The first person on my list is John Lennon. I was raised with his music and I have continued to listen to his music all through my life. He has been the biggest inspiration to me out of everyone that I have ever known and every one of my heroes. I feel a connection to everything he stood for and everything he did. I love him even though I know he had tons of faults, his faults made him who he was.
The second person on my list is Dan. Dan is possibly the most important person in my life who is not my best friend Kelly and not related to me. I know that he broke my heart and everything....but he has some very good reasons for doing so and I believe that he is sincere when he tells me the things that he tells me. There is a very deep and beautiful feeling between us, even though we cannot be together right now. He is one of the only people in my life who no matter what I did or how I acted or how I looked or what I said, could accept me and love me, and wouldn't walk away because he was scared. He's been there through everything and I hope that someday he and I can start over.
The third person is my best friend Kelly....I've known her for thirteen years. No one can come close to having the kind of bond that I have with her. We say the same thing at the same time. It's like we know what the other is thinking. We have the funniest in jokes, and the best times together. No matter what, she's always there. I really hope that she's the kind of friend I'll have 20 years from now.
Then there's others, like my 7th grade social studies teacher who helped me discover that I am bisexual and helped me get into politics, and my 8th grade science teacher, the lesbian, who I am still in love with to this day, and another person who I don't like to talk about in public.
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| Apr 13, 2006 @ 1:59 AM |
Important People in our lives/ who helped make us who we are |
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HarleysB_WV
Posts: 860
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I would have to say that my mother and my step-mother are the one's that helped mold me into who I am today.
My mother was in a really bad motorcycle accident about 16 years ago. She had to have part of her brain removed. She had to re-learn EVERYTHING!! Including how to feed herself. Now she has her own seat weaving business and is very successful at it. She still has trouble with remembering certain things, but she is truly an inspiration to me. She never gave up no matter how much pain she was in.
My step-mother showed me what it meant to see things from someone else's point of view. She showed me what it meant to give selflessly to others. I can't imagine how I would handle marrying a man with two teenage daughters who showed me nothing but contempt and resentment. We put that woman through hell in a very literal sense and yet she stuck it out with us.
Both of these women showed amazing strength and endurance. I can't think of any two women I admire and respect more than them.
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| Apr 13, 2006 @ 2:23 AM |
Important People in our lives/ who helped make us who we are
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LipGlossQueen9
Posts: 10,088
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Bah.....I forgot somebody.
I don't know if this is appropriate, and it's only because I've come to trust you guys that I'm admitting this.
His name is Joseph. He molested me as a young child and I believe he is part of the reason that I have virtually no self-confidence, no sense of self-worth, and the reason that i lack the ability to look in a mirror and say "i look good. i'm a good person. i'm worthy of someone's love." Why am I mentioning him? Because he has made me who I am. Because of him, I want to be a lawyer. Because of him I want to put in jail the miserable, disgusting people like him so they can't do it to anymore little kids. I've wanted to be a lawyer since I was five, and it's all because of him. I'm a stronger person because he was a part of my life. Do I hate him? Yes. I will admit that even though it has been a very, very long time, I have not come to a point where I can forgive him. Someday, though, I will....and so...there's someone else who helped to make me who I am.
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| Apr 13, 2006 @ 2:28 AM |
Important People in our lives/ who helped make us who we are |
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chinabull2000
Posts: 7,012
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My dad, my ex-wife and my daughter. They all gave me different positives, and I have learnt so much from all three of them. I wish my dad were still around today, because I know that I would still be learning from him, I'm glad my ex-wife is out of the picture for reasons I've said before, and my daughter will always be around, showing me that life is a beautiful thing!!
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| Apr 13, 2006 @ 11:35 PM |
Important People in our lives/ who helped make us who we are
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Heaveninawildflower
Posts: 15,333
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Well, I never knew her, but my great grandmother was probably the most impressive person I've had within my family. She was born in what's now Slovenia, or at least I think so...there was an invasion, pretty common in those parts, as was 'ethnic cleansing'. She was fifteen when she saw her whole family killed, and was then gang raped and left for dead. She escaped, and eventually gave birth to the product of the rape, my maternal grandmother, who was no wimp herself. She married and gave birth to seven children, two in Slovenia, the remaining five in NYC. She and grandpa worked as milliners in the sweatshops that were the common places of employment for immigrants in those days, and he contracted tuberculosis as did many of them. My mom was the middle of the seven, and she was his nurse until he died when she was 16, during the depression of course. Grandma was still in the sweatshop, with seven kids, and somehow managed to keep everybody fed and clothed, and as they grew old enough, got them out to work. She took the $500 from grandpa's life insurance and used it as down payments for two 2-family houses, so she rented out the other three apartments. She saved up from the rentals and used it as down payments on other property, some of which is now JFK airport. She remarried (and shocked the kids when she said it was because she didn't like sleeping alone) and moved to upstate NY. She had a stroke that totally paralyzed her when she was 70, she couldn't even control eye blinks to communicate. However, she survived that way for seven years, until step-grandpa died. She died a week later, and I'll always swear that she did it so that her children would inherit the jointly held property, as it was left to the children of the survivor.
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| Apr 13, 2006 @ 11:48 PM |
Important People in our lives/ who helped make us who we are |
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kattsmeow
Posts: 21,272
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My Mom and Dad.
The love they gave/give, still amazes me. All the little sayings they would tell me.
Then my grandfather,,,who let me sit on his lap and listen to the Cleveland Indians play. He would give me horehound candy too.
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| Apr 14, 2006 @ 12:02 AM |
Important People in our lives/ who helped make us who we are
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dowens
Posts: 869
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great examples by all...  ........i was thinking of people that influenced my life a cpl years ago......when i realized that they probably had no idea how they had touched my life! it got me started on a very rewarding journey of finding my first grade teacher all the way to telling my own parents how they impacted me!
so to all.......if you haven't done this yet in your own life........do it!......it'll be the most rewarding trip you, and those you contact will ever have
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| Apr 14, 2006 @ 12:09 AM |
Important People in our lives/ who helped make us who we are |
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wandaful123
Posts: 1,511
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Beautiful thought Dowans... been there, not much response... couldn't find the sister, found my Old friend in a retirement home, didn't really know me anymore, had some great visits. He passed away this year and I was fortunate enough to have been a part of his life again however small a role it may have been.
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| Apr 14, 2006 @ 12:15 AM |
Important People in our lives/ who helped make us who we are
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dowens
Posts: 869
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Wanda......i think you just said exactly why we need to acknowledge those that play a part in our lives everyday.......i ran into a cpl of the same situations you did.......and its made my resolve stronger now to say "thanks"....or "i love you".....things i used to think "strong" men never needed to say!......LOL.....how foolish i was!
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| Apr 14, 2006 @ 12:18 AM |
Important People in our lives/ who helped make us who we are |
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wandaful123
Posts: 1,511
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Dowens a wee bit more of that positive re-inforcement is due to you!
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| Apr 14, 2006 @ 12:26 AM |
Important People in our lives/ who helped make us who we are
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dowens
Posts: 869
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WOW!.......maybe i really am cured!!......  .......thanx to Wanda and Angel!!!....... 
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| Apr 14, 2006 @ 12:28 AM |
Important People in our lives/ who helped make us who we are |
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grumblebear
Posts: 10,491
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cool Dowens, and Wanda...
so many people do so many little things for us, and so much of it, is just when they are there for us...
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| Apr 14, 2006 @ 3:02 AM |
Important People in our lives/ who helped make us who we are
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Jade777
Posts: 118
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I believe everyone comes into your life for a reason. There are several that have majorly impacted my life but that doesnt mean that they did anything more or less than anyone else, but that they happened to be in my life and impacted it when it made the most difference.
Ive met people in the last two months on here that have changed my whole outlook in a positive manner, most of you know who you are, others have no idea how much of an impact you make with your posts everyday.
Thank you all
Jade
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| Apr 14, 2006 @ 4:22 AM |
Important People in our lives/ who helped make us who we are |
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painter007
Posts: 15,990
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my dad he gave me strength and a positive attitude that has carried me through. I miss him every day.
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| Apr 14, 2006 @ 9:42 AM |
Important People in our lives/ who helped make us who we are
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luvshorses644
Posts: 1,566
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Wow.. there are so many people that have impacted on my life.. some in positive ways, others in the not so positive way. The latter ones, I have learned that they were sent to my life to teach me something, so in that event, I guess they probably did help me.
I feel like I am at the Grammys and thanking everyone that helped me achieve my life award.. but I will say.. people are their own unique character. Most of the people that have come into my life were either sent to me or chosen by me.. there were a few accidental introductions which also had an impact on me.
The ones that impacted most have to say are my grandparents. They (all 4) came to the U.S. from the old countries and in doing such brought old country traditions of how important family was/is. I find myself doing things and remembering just which one of them inspired this trait.. way cool! The next were my children.. funny how children change your whole prospective of life. You learn that you are no longer the only person that will be affected by your actions or decisions..
Thanks to all those in my life.. you have been exactly what I needed at the time I needed your lessons shared the most.
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| Jun 28, 2006 @ 6:01 PM |
Important People in our lives/ who helped make us who we are |
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Peaches888
Posts: 15
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the first would have to be my Mother with her patience & generosity - I felt so bad sometimes because everything she asked me to do I chose to do something different (perhaps I had the Defiance Complex in lieu of the Opposition Complex in horses)
somehow I made my amends last year, verbally by phone, about how I may have failed her as a daughter in pursuit of my dreams & goals. Now I expected a flood of tears from her, but instead, she said something that made my heart soar beyond words. She said, "but that was what you wanted to do....." Then I burst into a dribbling incoherent idiot with tears to match. Believe it or not, our relationship has been subtly smoother since then.
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| Jun 28, 2006 @ 7:04 PM |
Important People in our lives/ who helped make us who we are
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BigCiX
Posts: 33
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my grandmother and daughter
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| Jun 28, 2006 @ 11:17 PM |
Important People in our lives/ who helped make us who we are |
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Jankia
Posts: 9,148
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My children,it wasnt until the day I became a father that I ever respected myself.
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