This sure is a tough question, Evan. Being influenced by someone can be either good or bad. Maybe I can add a couple of bad in with some of the good that I can remember.
Mom. . who saved my sorry little *** from the perils of life that little boys always seem to endure.
Dad. . who’s skinny belt laced my backside, whenever Mom was unable (or unwilling) to intervene.
The Elementary School Lunch Room Mother. . who threatened to spank my bare butt in front of a room full of my peers, after I dumped a spoon of those yucky green peas into Susan’s milk bottle.
Mrs. Mortimer. . my elementary school principal, whose office I knew well.
Mrs. Walker. . my third grade teacher, who turned me on. She discovered that I didn’t know the full alphabet and made me learn them, then turned me on to reading and had me reading a book a day.
Mr. Magnason. . the special learning teacher who spent six months teaching me to read lips.
Mr. Tokarski. . the eight grade shop teacher, or was it the custom made wooden paddle, with my name on it?
Mr. W. . the youth Minster who told me what Dad neglected to tell me and who got fired for saying the same thing to a teenage girl.
Most of the members of the church that I grew up in. . who made me realize that we are all human after all.
Mr. and Mrs. Pierson. . a gentle old couple and real people of faith, who often took me under their wing for Sunday dinner and apple pie. I became known as the "apple pie boy", when they spoke of me.
Mrs Doc. . who has been at my side through thick and thin through three years of dating and 27 years of marriage.
There are others, I am sure, but memory fades as I age and I’m losing my grip on those who influenced me the most.
Merry Christmas
Doc