In today’s world of TikTok, Instagram and Facebook Reels, the term influencer is prevalent.  I have spent the past two weeks remembering a few “old style” influencers in my life.  Women who impacted me in my childhood, youth and my adult life as a parent were my influencers.  This mother’s day left me with a flood of feelings as the day ended.  I chose to focus on a few female relatives that influenced me with a variety of positive traits.  There are so many stories that my children have heard me share about each of these women.  I have already written about a few of them over the past two years. So instead of stories, I wish to share a list of positive traits from a few special women.

Mom

  • Patience – as a Grandma she taught her grandchildren how to deal with frustration by asking them to spell P-A-T-I-E-N-C-E.
  • Perseverance –  During her fight against cancer, she pushed through what I now realize was great pain for quite some time.
  • Strength – She used great inner strength to make some tough decisions during my childhood.

Granny

  • Confidentiality – I learned over the years that Granny was a great confidante to many in our family.
  • Dedication – She spent her entire adult life as a wife, mother, grandmother and homemaker.
  • Faith filled – Her faith in Jesus was evident by her Bible reading, conversations, and the various saved poems and verses on her fridge.

Aunt Nell

  • Hospitality – Aunt Nell was the epitome of a southern hostess – her home was always open for large extended family gatherings.
  • Grace – She consistently showed me grace when I needed encouragement by listening to my incessant talking.
  • Memorable – Her love of sharing some of my own favorite childhood memories whenever I visited her in her later years made my love of those stories even more special.

Aunt Annie

  • Laughter – Aunt Annie made even an unfortunate story into a funny story.
  • Perspective – Those unfortunate stories turning into funny stories showed me just how important the right perspective can be.
  • “Proper” frustration – I can still hear her voice saying “AH FOOT” when she realized a mistake when hemming many, many of my childhood clothes!  This was always followed by her usual laughter as she corrected her mistake.

These women are just a few who influenced my outlook on life.  They helped to form the person I am today.  I truly wish I could go back in time to make sure I tell each of them how much they meant – and still mean – to me! 

“There is a time for everything, …… a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance”. Ecclesiastes 3:1 & 4