Mama Mama was a dear and wonderful person.  Not just because she was my grandmother, but because she taught me so many things. Mama worked at a local department store as a young woman and continued to work her way up to the position of personnel manager, where she remained until her retirement.  While she worked, she helped raise me and my sisters and brothers.  We all lived with her for six years in a tiny three bedroom home.  There were nine people living in that house, and in that entire six years I never heard a cross word about her crowded home.  In this she taught me commitment and responsibility to job and family.   At the same time, she worked as a volunteer in our community, as an active and enthusiastic den mother for our local Cub Scouts for many years.  She spent her retirement years working on the women's auxiliary at our volunteer fire department, and at our local hospital gift shop.  She worked for years arranging transportation and aid for the blind and visually handicapped individuals in our community.  Yet, busy as she was, she was always available for anyone in her family.  In this she taught me charity, compassion, and selflessness. But I remember Mama for the other things she did.  She was never too busy to listen to me whenever I needed her, no matter how trivial my problem.  Her advice was flavored with the spices of life: Experience, wisdom, knowledge, strength, and above all love. Mama taught me to love who I am, to accept the things about myself I couldn't change and to work hard on what I could change.  I remember how proud Mama was of all my achievements, no matter how small, and her disappointment when I failed to do as she expected.  I remember her confidence in me, when I corrected a wrong.  I had a strange feeling that I had not done anything to surprise her by correcting it.   She expected it of me. I remember how strong Mama was when my grandpa developed a blood clot in his leg.  During routine pre-surgery tests the doctors discovered a spot on my grandpa's lung.  I will never forget the pain and fear in her eyes, when the doctors told her it was cancer.  Yet still she remained strong, cheerful and full of hope in her daily visits to him. On one of the saddest days of my life, my grandpa lost his year long battle with the devastating cancer, and I saw Mama cry.  In her tears, I saw how deep her love and commitment for him was.  In her sorrow, she remained strong during his wake and funeral.  I saw that a part of her had passed with him, but she held an inner knowledge that she would reunite with him when her God decided, and until than she would bide her time By these things, she taught me stamina, perseverance, and love. Mama's lessons were not sealed in stone, nor were they taught by the swing of a strap.  She taught by example, by unconditional love, with honor and pride.  Her lessons were simple and pure, the kind that never fade, but remain in your heart forever. Mama is gone now, she passed away about four years ago, but she is never far from my thoughts.  The things she taught me will live on forever, in my children, and their children, and their children's children.

Do you know someone who has made an impression on your life?  We have all had that experience in our life when someone says or does something which helps us see things differently, or perhaps even changes our lives forever!.  Here's your chance to say "thank you", by passing along the kindness that was done to you, and giving someone else the chance to learn too.  Don't let the circle be broken...write us today!  Remember, if you've lived, you've learned.  By sharing your experience, you help someone else learn.  Share your knowledge!