"Love is how you stay alive, even after you are gone." -Mitch Albom
Another day, another migraine. As I tried to soak my pain away in the tub this evening, I got to thinking. The thing in life that satisfies me the most is feeling as though I have made some sort of difference in another's life. I don't mean that I took someone who was on the wrong path and helped them start anew. Wonderful as that may be, I would just like to think that I am leaving footprints on the lives of some of the people I encounter.
My life has been impacted by so many people in ways both big and small, I couldn't begin to tell each tale or thank each one, but here are 5 people who have changed my life (obviously I've blogged much about my family-so here are some others).
1. My brother Denny. I don't actually blog or talk about my brother Denny very often. He is 23, and he is an awesome kid. He will always be a kid to me. His charisma and sense of humor are totally original, and people just love to be around him. We've been through many ups and downs over the years, but I'd like to think we're in a good place. We don't talk as much as we'd like, but I know he has my back and would do anything for me. Throughout my illness, I feel as though Denny often had to take a backseat to me and the issues of my RSD, even during times when he should have been front and center. When I think of the times in my life that I've laughed the hardest, it probably involves him. Not a year goes by without mention of the "macaroni-and-cheese-chocolate-milk-food-fight" we had as youngsters. He might not even know how much joy and laughter he has brought into my life, but he really has (especially the repeat viewing of his traffic camera red light running recently). But really, he's a great guy and I imagine my mom was onto something when she named him for her father because from all stories I've been told of my Grandpa Denny, he was a jolly man.
2. Bobby. When I was in high school, I dated a guy named Bobby, but more importantly, he was just my friend, a true blue friend. He is one of the only guys, aside from my Brandon, who has seen me for who I am. To my shock, once the first week of school was past, he stopped coming to school in preppy clothes and started coming to school in his gothic wear. My self image and aspiration to be popular got in the way of my individuality, but he never let it stop him. He was perhaps my very best friend in high school, and he was one of the few people who knew the real me and affirmed for me that "me" was more than enough. That changed my life. We rarely speak, though I am connected to his sweetheart of a wife on Facebook, but we will be life-long friends.
3. Erin. Erin was the first friend I made when I moved to Florida. We had lots of fun together going out and enjoying the nightlife. She and I have always had very different viewpoints on things, which was not always easy for me because believe it or not, I was the less outspoken of the two of us. I can thank her for knowing my way around town; I still have the hand-drawn map she made for me to prove it!
4. Mr. McBride. My Comm I, Comm II, and Success Strategies professor in college pushed me. I've always gotten great grades, but he really made me stretch myself as a writer. He pushed me to be a better person. His example of transparency to his students, discussing his ups and downs in life (in my Success Strategies class) helped me become more transparent, helped me overcome many of my own inner struggles, and changed my life forever. I still have the journal we kept in that class, and I am so glad that I signed up for that "easy" elective because it pushed me to look inward.
5. Ms. Brown. My art teacher/gifted teacher in middle school. What an evil, evil woman. I will never forget the day she became so exasperated with me, due to the fact that I had an unfinished assignment (imagine that, when you miss weeks on end of school due to illness...) she blew up at me. She exclaimed (in front of the whole class), "Well, I guess you won't get married then since you're sick. Or you won't have kids or drive a car since your sick." The venom and ugliness in her voice has pushed me at times when I felt like giving up, pushed me to prove her wrong. I attended schools where my 504 plan was ignored, where I was belittled and cast aside because I was a very ill young lady. What a shame! I'd like to take those lemons and squirt her in the eye. How does the saying go? A life well lived is the best revenge?
I hope that the positive times I leave an impression on another outweigh the times I leave behind a scar.
I leave you with this...
"But there's a story behind everything. How a picture got on a wall. How a scar got on your face. Sometimes the stories are simple, and sometimes they are hard and heartbreaking. But behind all your stories is always your mother's story, because hers is where yours begin." -Mitch Albom (For One More Day)
My life has been impacted by so many people in ways both big and small, I couldn't begin to tell each tale or thank each one, but here are 5 people who have changed my life (obviously I've blogged much about my family-so here are some others).
1. My brother Denny. I don't actually blog or talk about my brother Denny very often. He is 23, and he is an awesome kid. He will always be a kid to me. His charisma and sense of humor are totally original, and people just love to be around him. We've been through many ups and downs over the years, but I'd like to think we're in a good place. We don't talk as much as we'd like, but I know he has my back and would do anything for me. Throughout my illness, I feel as though Denny often had to take a backseat to me and the issues of my RSD, even during times when he should have been front and center. When I think of the times in my life that I've laughed the hardest, it probably involves him. Not a year goes by without mention of the "macaroni-and-cheese-chocolate-milk-food-fight" we had as youngsters. He might not even know how much joy and laughter he has brought into my life, but he really has (especially the repeat viewing of his traffic camera red light running recently). But really, he's a great guy and I imagine my mom was onto something when she named him for her father because from all stories I've been told of my Grandpa Denny, he was a jolly man.
2. Bobby. When I was in high school, I dated a guy named Bobby, but more importantly, he was just my friend, a true blue friend. He is one of the only guys, aside from my Brandon, who has seen me for who I am. To my shock, once the first week of school was past, he stopped coming to school in preppy clothes and started coming to school in his gothic wear. My self image and aspiration to be popular got in the way of my individuality, but he never let it stop him. He was perhaps my very best friend in high school, and he was one of the few people who knew the real me and affirmed for me that "me" was more than enough. That changed my life. We rarely speak, though I am connected to his sweetheart of a wife on Facebook, but we will be life-long friends.
3. Erin. Erin was the first friend I made when I moved to Florida. We had lots of fun together going out and enjoying the nightlife. She and I have always had very different viewpoints on things, which was not always easy for me because believe it or not, I was the less outspoken of the two of us. I can thank her for knowing my way around town; I still have the hand-drawn map she made for me to prove it!
4. Mr. McBride. My Comm I, Comm II, and Success Strategies professor in college pushed me. I've always gotten great grades, but he really made me stretch myself as a writer. He pushed me to be a better person. His example of transparency to his students, discussing his ups and downs in life (in my Success Strategies class) helped me become more transparent, helped me overcome many of my own inner struggles, and changed my life forever. I still have the journal we kept in that class, and I am so glad that I signed up for that "easy" elective because it pushed me to look inward.
5. Ms. Brown. My art teacher/gifted teacher in middle school. What an evil, evil woman. I will never forget the day she became so exasperated with me, due to the fact that I had an unfinished assignment (imagine that, when you miss weeks on end of school due to illness...) she blew up at me. She exclaimed (in front of the whole class), "Well, I guess you won't get married then since you're sick. Or you won't have kids or drive a car since your sick." The venom and ugliness in her voice has pushed me at times when I felt like giving up, pushed me to prove her wrong. I attended schools where my 504 plan was ignored, where I was belittled and cast aside because I was a very ill young lady. What a shame! I'd like to take those lemons and squirt her in the eye. How does the saying go? A life well lived is the best revenge?
I hope that the positive times I leave an impression on another outweigh the times I leave behind a scar.
I leave you with this...
"But there's a story behind everything. How a picture got on a wall. How a scar got on your face. Sometimes the stories are simple, and sometimes they are hard and heartbreaking. But behind all your stories is always your mother's story, because hers is where yours begin." -Mitch Albom (For One More Day)
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