@slider106 Said
Who in your life has had the most impact? This could be either positive OR negative. You don't even have to use real names, of course, but it would be nice to hear some real stories.
Sorry for the sermon of influences, but these people mean alot to me and I just needed to express how much I love them
I have 3 big influences:
My Grandmother was one of the most beautiful people I knew. She was always a big inspiration to me about life in general. She was such a hard worker...when she and my grandfather were younger, he worked construction and she worked 2 jobs, then came home and was expected to clean the house, take care of my mother and her 4 other sibblings, and have a full course dinner on the table by the time my grandfather got home in the evening. In her later years, she would encourage me to be the best, and strongest black woman I could be and if I had God on my side, I could do anything I wanted. (we got really close at the end of her life and it almost destroyed me when she passed away...October 15, 2006 @ 4:52 p.m.) I can't wait to see her again someday!!
My mother has always been big on education. When my sibblings and I were young, she was passionate about reading to us. She used to always tell us that it doesn't matter if someone tortures you, beats you up physically or emotionally...take away everything/everyone you know and love..break you down until there is nothing left, but there is one thing no one will ever have the power to do...and that is to take away your knowledge and your ability to learn...She still tells us to this day that knowledge is power...and I try to live by it.
The third person who influenced me holds a very special place in my heart and is very dear to me. That is my fourth grade teacher. She taught me so many life lessons and I grew to love her for it. In fact she is one of the many reasons I graduated from high school. When I graduated from elementary school, this teacher walked up to my mother and said, "I love your daughter very much...I know its kind of far off, but I was wondering, when she graduates from high school if I could have a ticket to her graduation?" My mother immediately starting crying and told her, "I'll tell you what, when she graduates from high school, I'll have her come and personally hand deliver to ticket to you herself." Over the years I often reminiced on the life lessons i learned while in her class and also wondered if she was still teaching at the school.
7 years later, on June 4, 2008 I stood in line at my high school to get graduation tickets and just as my mother promised I walked up to my elementary school to give my teacher her ticket. When she saw me she didn't recognize me at first, then after a couple min she remembered me and asked me what I was doing there. When I relayed to her why I was there and gave her the ticket, she immediately started crying and we hugged!!
She then told me she didn't have any plans the following day (Graduation day) and promised she would be there. June 5, 2008 came, and I marched across the stage and received that diploma cover. All of my friends, family, and parents of my friends yelled and cheered for me. But I never got the chance to see my teacher...I often wondered if she made it and saw me march across the stage. But with all that said, I loved this woman with all my heart and it crushed me when I read the newspaper in July 2009 and saw that she passed away!! She was such a blessing to me and my life and I thank God everyday that I got a chance to see her before she passed away!!
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