Heroes

Do you have any female relatives, friends or even strangers (writers, actresses, etc..) that have impacted you and your life?

Writing about my Aunt Julie really made me start thinking about what a HUGE influence she was on me during my formative years. She was always considered the 'black sheep' but she was still my Dad's favorite sister.

She had red hair and freckles and a giant set of boobs and a tiny waist. She was all of 5' tall but wore GIGANTIC heels. She was gorgeous and completely indifferent to the fact that men ogled her constantly. She gave me weird random factoids for no reason at all... like one time she told me that Marilyn Monroe always wore her bra to bed so her tits wouldn't sag.

She had a wicked temper. She once stabbed her husband in the arm for calling her a *****. Another time she threatened one of my 8th grade classmates with dismemberment for picking on me.

She taught me how to shave my legs when my mother was certain it was too soon. She was the one who convinced my parents that wine with dinner was okay for me when I was 10.

She lived in the city but came out every Saturday to play cards with my parents at night... but during the day she was all mine. She would let me drive her car and take me to the mall and teach me how to flirt with boys. She took me to movies that my parents thought were too scary for me.

She would take me to the city for sleepovers. She took me on the subways and in taxis. She would take me to art shows and introduce me to the weirdest and coolest people. She would take me to little dives where we would listen to musicians and she would always know them.

She was wild and funny and free spirited and just the right amount of insane. She died from breast cancer in 1998.

I miss her like fire.

my hero is my sister Tina - she was born 14 years before me. My parents were crazy and never let her out of the house and she was SUCH a good kid. They were so strict and so mean to her but she just loved them back. She taught my parents how to be REAL parents and I definitely benefit from THAT.

My cousin was very sick when my sister was younger and they were around the same age. My parents ONLY let me sister hang out with her bc she was 'the poor little sick girl.' My sister had to do everything with her and for her and never once resented her.

My parents decided that women shouldn't go to college. So my sister got a job and put herself through college with no support from my parents - the same parents who pushed me to go to grad school bc of her influence on them.

She fell in love with her husband - who is of a different race. My parents disowned her - threw things at her. She refused to move out bc she didnt want to disappoint them. So while they didn't talk to her and made her life miserable - she still came home from work and school and helped my mom make dinner in silence. She cooked and cleaned for people that basically hated her.

A month before her wedding - she accepted my parents' apology and insisted they be invited to every pre-wedding event . . even when no one else even wanted to look at them. She never mentioned it again and made them a HUGE part of her life.

She had one beautiful baby girl and became a great mother. She had one beautiful baby boy and became a better mother.

Her son was diagnosed with autism - and she cried and screamed for a month or so. Then she became a teacher/mother/therapist to him without neglecting her husband OR her daughter OR her parents. She is so full of love - she taught us how to love and understand him. She has so much hope for his future, we can't help but agree.

She will drop everything to help all of us with our life problems and yet, we always forget to ask HER if she needs help.

Wow, thanks for asking this question - i think i forgot how wonderful she is - i think i am going to call her and make her cry now.

Ladys what beautiful stories of love and devotion. I was so moved when I read your posts that they made me cry. TWICE!!!

So touching. Thank you for sharing.