My mother.
My father.
My husband.

1. My father - he would have been 77 years old today.
2. My first superintendent of schools - Dr. Elizabeth Tierney.
3. My current boyfriend... he has such a calming way about him.

Mom & Dad
My wife.

My mother

My husband

My oldest brother

1. My dad
2. My mom
3. My DH

Of course, my parents had great influence on who I am today. I am sure everyone who had parents, good or bad, can say that, but we are all influenced by others outside our childhood family circle. For me:

1 Leroy..a man who greated each day with great enthusiasm even though he was bedfast for 37 of his 43 years. He inspired me to keep "keeping on".

2 My DH who despite his many health issues has never uttered a word of complaint and takes very good care of himself and me, again without any complaint.

3 Mary R. that I worked with many years ago. She was widowed
at age 36 with 5 children. She taught me that with a positive attitude, things will somehow be ok.

1. my DH
2. my DM
3. my friend, Colleen

OK, to avoid reduncancy, my parents are assumed. Both of my parents are great examples.

1. My maternal grandmother, not that I try to be like her (she had skills I never learned), it's just that I *knew* she loved me to the moon and back no matter what, and feeling that as a child lasts your whole life long. She truly saw only the best in me.

2. My maternal aunts (three of them, but they are like one person, "The Aunts.") Without their own children, they added a lot of fun experiences to the childhoods of their neices and nephews. They took me places I would not have gone otherwise and had different skills and interests to share than my parents. Just added a lot to my life.

3. A middle school English teacher who made me feel like I had special talent. Before her I liked to read and write, but she made me love it and feel proud of it, like I was in a special club of readers and writers. ;o)

Mother
Daddy
one of my BFFS

1. Neighbour Ken
2. Freda
3. My Aunt Elsie who died a couple of years ago.

Most influential people to you....
1. my parents (deceased)
2. my children and grandchildren
3. DH

My Papa

My Nanny (everything good in me comes from her)

My Father

Besides the family I grew up with and my family now.... as that is always a given for me....

1. Mrs. Lang, my 3rd grade teacher
2. My best friend Kim
3. Christ, and not in that order...

Here is a link that might be useful: Our families story of living with autism, and resources here

Of course, my parents so the others are:
My maternal grandpa
My high school journalism teacher
My counselor when I was a freshman in college.