October 23--Those Special Folks

You have to be in the world to understand what the spiritual is about, and you have to be spiritual in order to truly be able to accept what the world is about. 
--Mary Oliver

    Who were the most positive influences in your life, and what did they teach you? (See Oct 21 post for background.)

    Here my first response is my dad and my sons. 

    The foremost thing I learned from my dad is generosity, both with his time and financial resources. He drove door-to-door in the boonies of Pennsylvania to collect for the American Heart Association and the American Cancer Society. He worked hard creating his own business, a sawmill, to support his family. He paid for my college and grad-school education. If someone was in need, he helped. He paid for the overseas trips my mom and I took, maybe because he was glad to get rid of us for a while! If I was not in school, I was in the truck with my dad delivering lumber. Those trips always seemed to culminate at an ice cream place. I can't think of black raspberry custard without connecting it to Dad. He was also the one who taught me how to swim. He built a pool at our house where my nieces and nephews and I spent many a joyful hour. To his credit in teaching me, yesterday I completed lap swimming of 100 miles for the 28th consecutive year. Yes, I love to swim. 

    Learning from my sons would have to fall into the "infinite" category. Both have very different personalities, thus each creating different challenges for me as a parent. Though I loved my parents, I did not grow up learning a successful way to deal with life and people (mine was "stop crying and eat this, you'll feel better.") Fortunately the 12-Step program put me on a better path to parenting. Those two boys made me laugh, cry, and rage, and I marvel at their creativity to this day. 

    What is your answer to today's question?

        Leta

The last blooms of fall