Cat & Mouse

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name the 2 most influential people in your childhood :: one that you knew, one that you did not

It's hard to pick one from those I knew, since so many are family members. So I'm eliminating the family and going with our pastor, L#s Av#ry. Every Sunday, I learned something from him. He was a phenomenal preacher, a kind human being, and ever-ready to expose his failings and faults.

Of those I don't know who influenced me, my choice has to be Laura Ingalls Wilder. I lived inside her world for a lot of my childhood, not really wanting to be her--I was too aware of all the modern luxuries she went without--but wanting to grow up and become like her. While her books are pretty didactic at times, they are also beacons of light and hope for me. As an adult, I can see the gaping holes of the story, the parts she omitted because to tell them would be to dwell on some horrifically negative events, things that kids shouldn't have to know about.

name the 2 most influential people in your adult life :: one that you know, one that you do not

Someone I knew who influenced me tremendously...wow. Uhm, I guess I pretty much have to go with Beast. He has lifted me up and shown me parts of myself (and my self) that I either don't know about, or give short shrift. There's a lot he has done for me selflessly, and a lot he has pushed me to do to stretch. It's been a heck of a ride: 25 years of figuring this relationship out.

Someone I don't know. Yeah. Gloria Steinem, I guess. I don't agree with everything she has said and/or done, but she and other women have made my life and the lives of other women so much more pleasant. There is simply no way to thank all the early feminists for their work, much of which goes unremarked now, forty-plus years later. I'm so glad I don't have to wear a girdle, be chased around a desk as part of my job, stay home with the kids, clean house all day, repress my personality, and kill myself instead of having a child (though we're getting back to that).

name one thing you’ve done that changed someone else’s life for the better

Beast always gives me (and my family) credit for showing him what it means to be a Christian. I'm not sure I am comfortable with taking credit for that, but he mentioned that again this week, as a personal testimony at a Salvation Army meeting, so it's fresh in my head.

name one thing you’ve done to another person that you deeply regret

I put D#@nn@ L@rs0n through hell in high school, as a group effort. I didn't understand her, she was terminally weird, and I was freaked out by her greasy hair, her constant "translation" of class discussion into sign language under her desk, her askew and dirty clothes. What I recognize now I had no way of knowing about then, and I treated her shabbily.

name something you fantasize about that you really hope will never actually happen

Having to deal with Sparky's death.

name three things that turn you on that have nothing to do with people

The smell of sage and evergreens in the mountains.
Babies (ok, they are people, but they aren't doing it intentionally--that smell is just them).
Music, the good stuff.