What people, besides your parents, were part of shaping who you are? Why?

exexec · 70-79, C

Coaches. I had some good men who coached me in junior high, high school, and college. A couple of pastors.

My uncle kinda took over as my dad because i only met my dad a few times.

My ex gf. Weve know eachother for 17 years and dated for over 10 of them. Not consecutively. It was a struggle of mental health and drug abuse.

The group of people who contributed to PTSD.

the various other people through out life who for a moment give you a realization about something.

SwampFlower · 31-35, F

My auntie and my oldest sister are my mothers.

My maternal grandfather was the only person I was close to on that side of the family. He was a retired professor from the college I went to or else I probably would have went somewhere else. He died right before I graduated, sadly.

A few elders/teachers in ways I didn’t realize until later on.

MrAlmostCrazy · 46-50, M

Prince -- he was my first music interest, makes me cringe these days some of his music and movies, but amazingly enough his toetappers are still great, I would see him as a fearless non-conforming kind of entertainer.
Jim Carrey -- in his earlier comedic roles helped me see how acting goofy is an art.
Nietzsche showed me how the prevailing belief in our home could be thought against.

icedsky · 51-55, M

My neighbor when I was growing up. Had this huge rock collection. Some really giant stuff. He worked in a Smelter that was operating in Tacoma so he would bring home stuff every day. Various ores they were processing. Taught me a lot about geology. And about humanity. He had a number tattooed on his left arm. I'd asked about it several times and he would avoid talking about it. I was young. One day When I was about 13 or 12 he was out beating the crap out of a big rock to split it open with his shirt off. Covered in scars. Big slices. Holes. I asked him if he'd been in some kind of accident. He smiled and laughed a little. Said Yes it was a terrible accident. Told me the real truth that day. He was a prisoner at one of the concentration camps. Forced to work on weapons production until he was too skinny and sick to be productive. They sent him from there to a death camp in Poland. As the Russian army was approaching the guards shot most the prisoners. He was shot twice and left for dead. He told me he laid there for 2 days in a pile of bodies until the Russians arrived. A Russian Soldier heard him wheezing and brought a medic over to him.

OlderSometimesWiser · F

Positively: my maternal grandmother, one of the only people to ever show me unconditional love.

Negatively: bullies, who caused me to be self conscious, doubt my worth and wonder if things that were normal for others were possible for me (ie: marriage, children.)

HijabaDabbaDoo · F

My sisters. I have a 10 and 12 year age gap with them so they were like my second (sometimes first) parents, especially the oldest.

Bexsy

If you're talking about while growing up. Well. Besides my mother. My grandparents were there sometimes.

Honestly, all other people in my world just hurt me. So in retrospect, i guess they played a part too.

HumanEarth · F

Great grandmother, Great Aunt, Grandmother, and a lot of people that were part of the Silent and Greatest Generation.

Why do you think I know so much from that time period? Because I was raised around them