h2orowe
04-17-2006, 11:39 PM
Who do you know that has influenced your life in a positive way? What is a fond memory of that person that you have?
It can be a family member/friend/co-worker/yadda yadda.
My uncle Steve influenced me a lot. I took a look at his memorial page on our family's history site, and, I forgot how great he was... Remembering him always brings tears to my eyes, because he was just one of the greatest people I've ever met.
My uncle, brother, and I used to get our Christmas trees. Our uncle would take us to the amusement park, to the movies, out to eat, or whatever he could do to have a good time with us, basically. He was really nice, and helped people a lot. One time, he and a friend were camping, his friend stopped breathing, and he sped to the hospital, going through red lights, being chased by the police, and ended up saving that person's life.
My uncle wasn't exactly superman, and made plenty of mistakes. For a while, he got into drugs, and was a major alcoholic. He was becoming a total dickhead to me, because of his "adopted" son, who was the reason he got into so much trouble. His "son" was a druggy, and was around 14 or so when he was taken in by my uncle (I was around 9-10). His mother had just died, and his mother was my uncle's friend, so my uncle did the good thing, and took care of the kid. They lived in a nice area, Newport Beach (Like the place from the OC) , RIGHT ON THE BEACH, and how does my uncle's newly found son repay him? He causes nothing but trouble for him, and the rest of the family.
I won't go into massive detail, but I have been beaten by my "cousin". He's attempted to drown me, he's put a pillow on my face then sat on it, he's beaten me with fists quite a bit, and he has hit me in the stomach once with a hammer.
Not only that, but he's caused problems for many of my other REAL cousins too. He's molested my girl cousin (About my age), he has stolen from us and my other cousins, and the worst thing he has done, was accused my uncle, who took him in when his mother died, of molesting him. It was all BS, luckily my uncle didn't get convicted of the worst crimes he was charged of, and all he got was a month or so.. I believe.. in jail for something to do with drugs.
After my uncle came out of jail, when I was 12 or so (we had to deal with that bastard of a "cousin" for like 2 years, just about), he lived with us. He quit drugs and drinking, and started hanging around his 3 children often. I remember sitting with him in my living room, helping him build a doll house for my little female cousin.
My uncle eventually became Christian, and started attending church. It really helped him, hanging out with other people who have been in his situation helped him a lot, and he wanted to help other who were in his situation very much. Once his life was back on track, and he was starting to make a good living for himself, he got brain cancer, and died a month later.
Late this last Summer, I got to see my little cousins and "older" by about a month cousin, the son and 2 daughters (well.. one daughter was sort of a step daughter, but he was more of a father to her than her real father was) of my uncle. I had not seen them for two years. When I finally saw them, I was surprised as can be to see how large they had gotten. We used to spend weekends together, at least twice a month, but suddenly, with the death of my uncle, we lost nearly all contact, it was very nice to see them. My little male cousin has the same birthday I do, July 25th, and is younger than me by 5 years. He used to act like me, a lot (This was because the two younger male cousins I have, well, I hung out with them A LOT when they were younger, and my other male cousin, who's younger by 2 and a half years, I raised practically. His mom put him in our care, for nearly 2 or 3 years, and after that, we saw each other nearly every day, when my mom would "babysit him" which meant I watched him) and I saw that he was similar, yet still very different than I when I was his age. Then I saw my little girl cousin, and she is so much like our other aunt. Then my "older" female cousin had become so mature, I was impressed very much. The last time I sobbed, was when I came home from that visit. I saw my uncle in each and every one of them, and just thought about how much he had missed, and will miss.
It can be a family member/friend/co-worker/yadda yadda.
My uncle Steve influenced me a lot. I took a look at his memorial page on our family's history site, and, I forgot how great he was... Remembering him always brings tears to my eyes, because he was just one of the greatest people I've ever met.
My uncle, brother, and I used to get our Christmas trees. Our uncle would take us to the amusement park, to the movies, out to eat, or whatever he could do to have a good time with us, basically. He was really nice, and helped people a lot. One time, he and a friend were camping, his friend stopped breathing, and he sped to the hospital, going through red lights, being chased by the police, and ended up saving that person's life.
My uncle wasn't exactly superman, and made plenty of mistakes. For a while, he got into drugs, and was a major alcoholic. He was becoming a total dickhead to me, because of his "adopted" son, who was the reason he got into so much trouble. His "son" was a druggy, and was around 14 or so when he was taken in by my uncle (I was around 9-10). His mother had just died, and his mother was my uncle's friend, so my uncle did the good thing, and took care of the kid. They lived in a nice area, Newport Beach (Like the place from the OC) , RIGHT ON THE BEACH, and how does my uncle's newly found son repay him? He causes nothing but trouble for him, and the rest of the family.
I won't go into massive detail, but I have been beaten by my "cousin". He's attempted to drown me, he's put a pillow on my face then sat on it, he's beaten me with fists quite a bit, and he has hit me in the stomach once with a hammer.
Not only that, but he's caused problems for many of my other REAL cousins too. He's molested my girl cousin (About my age), he has stolen from us and my other cousins, and the worst thing he has done, was accused my uncle, who took him in when his mother died, of molesting him. It was all BS, luckily my uncle didn't get convicted of the worst crimes he was charged of, and all he got was a month or so.. I believe.. in jail for something to do with drugs.
After my uncle came out of jail, when I was 12 or so (we had to deal with that bastard of a "cousin" for like 2 years, just about), he lived with us. He quit drugs and drinking, and started hanging around his 3 children often. I remember sitting with him in my living room, helping him build a doll house for my little female cousin.
My uncle eventually became Christian, and started attending church. It really helped him, hanging out with other people who have been in his situation helped him a lot, and he wanted to help other who were in his situation very much. Once his life was back on track, and he was starting to make a good living for himself, he got brain cancer, and died a month later.
Late this last Summer, I got to see my little cousins and "older" by about a month cousin, the son and 2 daughters (well.. one daughter was sort of a step daughter, but he was more of a father to her than her real father was) of my uncle. I had not seen them for two years. When I finally saw them, I was surprised as can be to see how large they had gotten. We used to spend weekends together, at least twice a month, but suddenly, with the death of my uncle, we lost nearly all contact, it was very nice to see them. My little male cousin has the same birthday I do, July 25th, and is younger than me by 5 years. He used to act like me, a lot (This was because the two younger male cousins I have, well, I hung out with them A LOT when they were younger, and my other male cousin, who's younger by 2 and a half years, I raised practically. His mom put him in our care, for nearly 2 or 3 years, and after that, we saw each other nearly every day, when my mom would "babysit him" which meant I watched him) and I saw that he was similar, yet still very different than I when I was his age. Then I saw my little girl cousin, and she is so much like our other aunt. Then my "older" female cousin had become so mature, I was impressed very much. The last time I sobbed, was when I came home from that visit. I saw my uncle in each and every one of them, and just thought about how much he had missed, and will miss.