United with Ukraine

10 Important People

 There are many "important" people in the world. Barak Obama, the Pope, your mother.... But my personal list of important people in my own life will be a bit different because I really could care less about politicians, etc., what I care about is those people who have made me the person I am today.

1 - My husband. We have our arguments, and they are magnificantly horrid. We have our good times, and they are also very good. But we've been together for more than 34 years now, and married for more than 31, and I guess I would have to call that a success.

2 - My BFF Sharon. We only get together once a year because she lives in Colorado and I live in Minnesota and that's quite a distance apart. But we pack so much into those five days of being together and we have such a good time. We've been friends since High School, and that's a long time ago when we were first inventing fire and sending scouting parties out to avoid the Velacoraptors. It's all good where Sharon is concerned.

Mom
My mother was an exquisite beauty who was an accomplished
musician and artist.

3 - My parents, both my birth mother and my adoptive parents. I have never met, indeed never even tried to meet my birth mother. But I owe her a big thank you for giving me up for adoption, because I got very lucky. I got adopted by the parents who chose me, and they took me to America and raised me here. We had our arguments - they were truly horrid. And I was a terrible teen into my late twenties - I would not have liked to live with me. But issues aside, they taught me so much and so much of who I am today I can lay directly at their feet. So....if you don't like me.....blame them! :-)

4 - JRR Tolkien and Ayn Rand. These two authors probably did more to formulate my thought processes throughout the years of my life than anyone else in literature. I read and re-read their works again and again, and have worn out many paper copies of their books (I now have them digitally on my Nook). I immerse myself in their philosophies and worlds. I take parts of what they say and make them part of my own mantras. In their own way they raised me as surely as my parents did.

5 - My customers - important both for my bottom line, but also for their daily challenges and interactions. I love my customers, and if they can overcome their sometimes bristly reactions to my plain speak, they know that they will get honest answers to their questions and lots of help with their problems. They learn that we actually do know what we're talking about, and then all is well and we can all indulge ourselve in creative vision. Their skills and their visions inspire us to ever greater creations of art.

6 - My on-line friends, some of whom I have met in real life, others who I only interact with via keyboards. Many of these people I have known on an almost-daily basis since 1996 - I have personal face-to-face friends who I haven't known as long as some of my on-line friends. Their feedback and help over the years have allowed me to grow as an artist and be strong as a person.

7 - It is odd to put someone on this list that dropped out of sight for more than 30 years, but my ex-fiancee, Seth, is an amazing man and has to be on this list. He is my support in bad times and in my artwork, and a friend who is there if I need him. He was steadfast when we were a pair a long time ago, and still is. We are both in serious and long-term relationships with our respective spouses, so we have had an opportunity to re-discover ourselves and our friendship without the clouding of a sexual relationship getting in the way. We are still radically different people, but we still complement each other well. Finding him again after so many years is one of the bright spots of my life.

That's as far as I get. There probably are others out there, but since I grouped some people into pairs or small groupings, I think I have more than 10 people listed.
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Finding him again after so many years is one of the bright spots of my life.

I think that is really lovely!

My mother was an exquisite beauty who was an accomplished
musician and artist.


Wow! She is stunning! What eyes!
I think my Father always thought of himself as the luckiest man in the world because he managed to win her heart. They were going to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary a few weeks after my father passed away. Mom was short but carried a presence. She had black hair and green eyes and looked a lot like a young Elizabeth Taylor. I wish I had half her looks, but we were VERY different people.

And yes, Seth is remarkable and very special. I know we would never have made it as a couple, but as friends we are there for each other now and I'm delighted with that.

- Erulisse (one L)
You look like you're still fairly young, so there is still time if Spirit wills relationships to be re-established. My mother and I were anything but the best of friends. Three days in her company would usually leave me with the screaming meanies. But after Dad died, she actually became a human being for a few years there. And when she started failing I tried to make sure that she was cared for in the best possible way through the nightmare of her long passing. Looking back on our lives has given me the patina of reflection which makes things look better and allows me to concentrate on the positive - something that is much healthier for my equilibrium and own happiness. Just remember, little operatic bird, it isn't over until the fat lady sings :-)

- Erulisse (one L)
Oh, and exes....well I had a lot of very bad ones also. But the good ones were and are sterling!

- Erulisse (one L)
Oh, my word! Your mother truly was a stunning beauty.

I have fond memories of a few of my exes and remain in touch with a couple of them. I firmly believe it is possible to make the transition to friendship, especially if that was part of the mix with the former sexual-romantic part of the relationship.
Thanks, Pande. I actually feel rather fortunate with my life up to this point, but that is with the ability of having years to look back, scrub out the spots of the relationship, and remember the highlights. Remember - history is written by the victors and I am the victor here :-)

I have a few exes who were horrid, and a few who were really nice. I feel extremely fortunate in Seth, he was and is a remarkable fea.

- Erulisse (one L)