Those That Have Influenced Me . . .
This is a post that I've been waiting all month to write and publish. It is my entry to the ActiveRain contest "Under the Influence(s)"
Why I Waited Until Today?
Today, July 27th, is the day my Mother was born . . . way back in the Year of Our Lord 1927.
She also passed away on this date, July 27, 1973. She was 46, I was 15 . . .
I would say that aside from my own child -- the dear boy Carlson -- my Mother, Elizabeth Sosanna Muss [née Fellmann], was the greatest influence on me, and my life . . . up and to including today!
My Mother died way too young. In the smog filled Valley, her lungs just couldn't hold up. The Los Angeles area was a smog filled, industrial waste where the newscasters issued "smog alerts" which were health advisories that warned seniors and children to stay indoors!
The smog was so bad at times, my eyes would smart and my lungs hurt after playing too hard, and of course, the worst month was July . . . the heat and smog trapped in the inversion layer in The Valley, were I grew up. My Mom, who had been ill with pneumonia . . . didn't have a chance with the sooty air.
During my Mom's short stay . . . she explained things in such vivid and great detail to me with her stories and manner. The in-depth method of her tales influence me profoundly to this day. I can recall so many stories she talked to me about, from the Bible stories of old and new as she prepared for her Sunday School Lessons, to the latest topics in the news . . . I remember her passion, her ability to teach me the right and wrong way of looking at life. She was just a great Mom for me. A loving, kind, nurturing soul.
Next on the list of influences . . . the dear boy Carlson
My son Carlson . . . Carla's son . . . influences me in so many ways I can't even describe.
His ability to think, reason, and be a principled young man took his own doing. Rearing him as a single parent, I've witnessed his growth and maturity. All I can say is . . . I'm influenced by his person growth and self-reliance!
From a little guy sitting on Santa's lap, to taming the world . . . and having Santa sit on his . . . yup, that's my Carlson!
Related: ActiveRain Kodak Contest Pictures of Baby Carlson!
In May 2013 the dear boy relocated back down to Los Angeles. No longer a smog filled asphyxiation chamber, Los Angeles is a breath of fresh air to him . . .
Although living in Portland, Ore since the age of 3, I admire his tenacity to go back home to follow his passion of acting, writing and becoming a part of that scene.
Life Long Influence
My third influence is The Honorable Glenette Blackwell. I met Judge Blackwell when I was arrainged before her on several counts of aggravated murder.
Just kidding . . . I met Glenette when I was 19 and volunteered for a political campaign. Glenette was coordinating volunteers and she befriended me. Great timing. Only a few short years after my Mother's passing, Glenette and her husband Herb proved to be the family that was needed in my life.
Glenette was the first African-American woman appointed to the Los Angeles Municipal Court. Born in Tennessee, her mother divorced and moved to Los Angeles and was a seamstress. Glenette was a very smart little girl, and her teachers saw that. She excelled in her education and was advanced to college, than law school on scholarships. This was during the mid-60's when equal opportunity programs were in their hay day and not mired by favoritism, nepotism . . . the way that most good intentions have a way of backfiring. Glenette graduated and became a lawyer. Years later, she was appointed a Judge.
She was an honest judge. She ruled her courtroom with a iron fist, in a velvet glove. She is the dear boy's Godmother. She was a strong woman who didn't let anything deter her from her accomplishments. May she rest in peace, having passed in 2005.
Fourth & Fifth
My Father was a tremendous influence as well. This influence, however, was in 20/20 hindsight, because I was just too young to know about the realities which he endured.
Having gone through WWII, losing his left leg from bomb fragment shrapnel and having to have it amputated because gangrene was setting in . . . he never bemoaned his amputated left leg. When I had my own left leg medical oopsie doodle in 2008, I called on his strength many a time. Carlson said he hopes left leg injuries don't run in the family . . .
My father was a wonderful man of integrity and stoic as the day is long. He married my Mother after leaving Germany following WWII. He became a professor at Loyola University in Southern California, and then went into the Aero Space Industry, riding the Golden Wave of the region during the mid-60's and into the 1980's, when he retired.
The photo was taken on March 5, 1988, the dear boy's 1st birthday party. Dad and Glenette sit beneath one of my Dad's original art. My Dad was a businessman, but did some wonderful works of art, many pieces I still have in my home today.
My Dad lived through the worst of the worst of evils to befall the earth in our current history. I learned the word "Totalitarianism" when I realized my Dad lived under that government regime under the Nazi's. My Father was a man of intelligence and integrity. He loved his daughter -- me -- dearly. And when I had my son, the dear boy, I was single and Carlson's dad was sabra from Israel, and didn't want to marry me. My Dad never disowned me, or was critical of me in any way. Life is weird when it plays out.
Great Influences . . . My Grandfather
Alexander Fellmann . . . good guy. He was 91-years old when he passed away on Father's Day in 1979. I was 21. I had gone to visit him, and had baked him his favorite . . . burned Chocolate Chip cookies. We talked for about an hour, then he excused himself, went to the bathroom closed the door and I heard a thud . . . he had a heart attack.
He had been hospitalized a few months earlier and that day . . . on Father's Day . . . was his time. I am glad I visited him, but it was a very sad experience for me. Death of a close, beloved relative wasn't new to me and I had no idea what to do when I couldn't open the bathroom door. I called Glenette in a panic, and she told me to call 9-1-1.
I remember my Grandpa so vividly. He tossed me in the air when I was a little baby and let me dance on his feet when I was a little girl. He taught me how to put black olives on my finger tips at Thanksgiving and took us to Disneyland, McDonalds and Sizzlers. Those were the GOOD OLD DAYS -- when Disneyland wasn't a Gazillion Dollars entrance fee, McDonald's food wasn't filled with GMOs, wasn't a corporate bastard and didn't screw that lady in the Hot Coffee thing . . . and when Sizzler's actually had decent T-bone steaks.
My Grandpa's visits were the best to look forward to. He'd always come prepared for his visits with boxes of Cracker Jacks . . . and he'd always have the same funny line when he ate something good. "Do you know what this tastes like?," he'd ask. Then the punchline, "It tastes like MORE!" and grab the mashed potatoes for a second helping.
He outlived his daughter, my Mother, by 6 years, and it still haunts me to this day that I was so young and didn't think to visit him more.
PLEASE VISIT WITH YOUR AGING RELATIVES!!
Related: What My Grandfather Did To Save His Home During the Great Depression
There are other influences in my life . . . so many people, places and things.
Most good . . . but some influences were very, very evil.
Because of my great family . . . the evil washed off . . . doesn't influence me. Never has, never will. But evil people have crossed my path and have played havoc on my life . . . I survive not because of the evil influences . . . only because of the good ones.
My influences taught me to be honest, real, embrace the adversity, suck it up, move forward, don't judge, be forgiving and most important of all . . . LOVE unconditionally. I've learned that Karma is a bitch and there are a lot of folks living in their own private Idahos. I pity them.
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