Who is the most influental person you ever met in your life?

[Siren]

 

[Debbie]

Not my Mum or Dad but my Grandpa.
He was a wonderful man. He cared so much about people.
He taught me a lot. The love of life, my cup is half full, a great sense of humour, seeing the good in people. Understanding and accepting myself for who I am.
Encouraging me to do the best I can.
I love to read and he encouraged me to think, question.
He was a good listener and gave of his time, money and energy for anybody. If you were a stranger and needed his help? You got it.
He was not a selfish man and wanted our world to be a better place. He was a fighter pilot in the war and did not believe in hating anyone.

I respected and admired him immensely. He was a big influence on my life and I miss him a lot. But he left so much behind and will never be forgotten.

He influenced me because he was an excellent role model.

I now pass on what he taught me to my children.

 

[roxie]

My 5th grade teacher, Mrs. B.
Coming from a small town, everyone knew everyone, and I was related to half of them all. She taught my aunts and uncles, and retired when my brother who was the youngest of all the neices and nephews passed thru her classroom.
She took the extra time to show me that I really was worth something. Being the new kid in school, I had alot of trouble adjusting. But she did that for all her students. I wish I knew what happened to her, but after she retired, I lost track of her....

 

[Desdemona]

One of my nursing instructors, Becky P. taught me to believe in my intellect and to believe in my abilities as a professional.

A good friend of mine who taught me to trust again and who helped me find a core of inner strength I didn't know I possesed.

 

[Siren]

WoW what great tributes

 

[april-wine]

Most inspiring person I have ever met........

I have met two......I hope that's ok.......

One showed me no matter what happens, whatever forks appear in the road, you can rise above all.......She is an amazingly strong woman......A tribute to my dear friend Sigh........

The second has a fighting spirit like I have never witnessed.....My best friend, my lover, my heart......I can't imagine she would fail at any fight she takes on......


april

 

[NeoMeiouSetsuna]

Mr. C my 9th and 11th grade, TS teacher. He believed in us. He helped me to raise exceptions of myself. He wanted the best from us and wouldn't stand for anything less. He taught me to have the courage to believe in myself and what I felt. He was very kind, and always there to help.....

 

[Caressa]

Ok..I know you said not mum or dad...but my parents have been the most influential people in my life.

Besides all of the basic things that most parents teach their kids, they've also always been completely supportive of my decisions...tried to give me what I wanted - and the best they could. Blah Blah Blah...ok...that's what almost everyone would say...

However - what I've learned most is from the mistakes my parents have made...all of the traits I see in them that I see surfacing in myself and work to change. I've been able to understand why I do some of the things I do from looking at their patterns.

Through all of their love and support it has been their mistakes that have taught me more and let me learn more about myself.

Being influential isn't always about teaching you the good things in life.

 

[lobito]

3333

The MOST influential preople in my life besides Mom or Dad, would be my Paternal Great Grandparents.

They taught me more about life than anyone else. They were the ones that taught me how to count, and a lot more things when I was very young.

It's hard to think about them being gone, but quickly replaced by the great memories of them I'll always have, that a good number of younger relatives will not have known.

Lo

 

[darkscribe]

The most influentual person would have to be my Uncle. He is really my cousin but he is about 26 years older than me. He is like a second father to me. I can talk to him about anything. He was there for me when my father wasn't. Whenever I had a problem that I couldn't discuss with my father I could always go to my Uncle. He taught me alot about life and I have the greatest respect for him.

 

[scrymettet]

gran ma

born in 1900
at 14 WWI
Told me once they where running out to see Zeppelin.
Had listen Blériot and Lindbergh adventures on the radio.
Has gone from horses to horse power.
at 40 WWII
at 50, her first Europe tour in a VW beetle.
at 69, men on the moon.
at 72, first jet fly. She said that it was the only way to travel.

Just a few others : power, running waters
She lived thru all with serenity. The only complain that I never heard from her was that the Kids was not allowed to be kids anymore.

And her sentence that make my live:
" Travel when you are young so that when you became old you can travel in your memory"

edited because of below

 

[Siren]

That quote rocks

 

[BlkPnthr]

Not sure why I am sharing any part of my personal life, but this thread I couldn't help posting on.

My ex wife would be the most influential person in my life. While married to her we had our hardships. It comes with the territory. Through everything that ever occured, she taught me something through her own example. As long as you learn from your mistakes, you're a better person for making them. See....when you make a mistake, you either learn from it or you don't. Yes, it's human nature to learn from them, but if you look at history, or even people around you, you'd be amazed how many mistakes are made that you don't learn from. You just keep repeating them over and over.

There are many other things that my ex has influenced me on, but that's another story.

 

[Richard49]

Two people come ot mind..........no make that three

1) Floyd Starr...Founder of Starr Commonwealth
He introduced me to many things to list here and not go nuts

2) Ayn Rand....meet her at one of her last public leatures.....
Read my first book by here shortly before going to VN...what a woman,thinker and author

3) Harry Browne.........First read "How I found Freedom in an Unfree World" when it intially came out. Meet him several times while he was running for President.

Richard
ask@gtii.com

 

[sigh]

ahhhh...well...this may seem odd, but the person who most influenced my life was the man who raped me

everything changed then...everything i am now traces back to that moment

mother
student
coward
lesbian
professional
lover
intellect

every part of me, every label you can ascribe to me, was fed in no small way by that experience


(and thank you, april...i love you too...but really, rising above it all isn't all that hard when every step can only be a step upward)

 

[bored1]

I worked for an individual who was cut from the same cloth as Bobby Knight......While he could be incredibly demanding he was also the most generous and helpful man Ive ever worked for -----I always addressed him as MR. As I made my way into the business and became his peer He finally told me to address him by his first name.........I was so touched............I had earned his respect.....I miss him dearly.....

 

[CarolineOh]

My big brother Mark, who has struggled against daunting physical challenges all his life, overcoming obstacles I believe would have broken me, and has never lost his sense of hope or his joy in life.
When I was just a girl, my parent's solemnly told me to appreciate my brother, for my time with him would likely be short. I am appreciating him still, and his beautiful children as well.

 

[navarre]

Siren,
Though you have suggested otherwise and I have thought long and hard, there is no other reply.
My Dad.
When I was very young my dad was walking down the street. I overheard one of the neighbors say, “There goes Al ________. He’s honest. He doesn’t cheat. He doesn’t steal. He doesn’t lie. He’s a good man.”
I’ll never forget that incident.
I’ve tried to live my life the same way.

(corrected spelling)

 

[riff]

Prolly. problem child and marxist.

sparky to some extent.

and all the bitches out there that have encouraged my new testosterone release plan... LOL

 

[unclej]

gotta be my paternal grandfather...taught me, mostly by example that you can do anything you want in this life if you just do it...hey, that would make a good commercial...he was an incredibly talented man that, when he wanted to learn something new like photography or oil painting or whatever would first go to the library and check out every book on the subject, read them and then go out and do it...it never occured to him that he couldn't do something so he just did it...i've tried to follow his example all my life and it works..he also taught me a love for reading..i inherited his library and it's still my most loved possesion.

........................................
makin' ripples

 

[Siren]

Well since your post was so eloquent, how can I refuse you?