First and foremost my parents, who clearly love unconditionally, have consistently practiced what they preach in their relationships with one another, their children and extended family, their community and their work. And my grandparents, especially my grandmothers. In very different ways, they both had very difficult lives, and both of them lived life on life's terms, with love and generosity, actively seeking joy in every little small corner where it might hide.

Meryl Shank, my high school math teacher for three years. Much more than a math teacher, he mentored me (and others) all through high school. He was brilliant and had lived a very interesting life, using his mathematical genious in some military capacity. He was diabetic and had heart problems that began when he was in his late teens. The diabetes was poorly controlled, and by his mid-30's he knew he was not going to have a long life. What he loved best was teaching and shaping young minds. Knowing he would be lucky to live to be 50, he chucked his career and came home to teach. And he was brilliant at helping adolescents sort through their adolescence. I think he saw himself as a teen in kids like me who couldn't quite figure out how to 'fit in.' He created niches where we did fit in.
He died the year after I graduated high school. It was the first death of some one I loved that I experienced. 40 plus years later, I still go put a flower on his grave now and then when I go home.

Dr. Jugland, a sociology professor. I quit college halfway through and went to work for the Dept. of Welfare. Several years later, I enrolled in a small local 'commuter' college, and took night classes. She was from Germany. I first encountered her in a history of western thought class. She took me under her intellectual wing, encouraged me to do independent studies in a number of areas of sociology and sociological thought, and laid the groundwork for my understanding of social processes and the complex matrix of the relationships of the individual to social groups and social institutions.

Sara P., who was my clinical supervisor for a number of years, starting with my last year of graduate school.

More than a few of the clients I have worked with over the years who have taught me so much about the courage,strength and resilency of people whose lives are ones of frequent, sometimes constant, adversity.

Thanks for starting this thread. It is good to be reminded, and to reflect.

Janie