Through my childhood, throw my teenage years, through my adulthood, and hopefully continuing through my life, I've had the privilege of having some amazing women play a part in my life.  I won't rank them, because they all are very important to me, each for their own reason.

• Mrs. Sofran - My kindergarten teacher.  She knew me so well and she was so kind.  I was so fond of her, and I still remember her unique nasal voice.
• Mrs. Sepesy - I don't know her official title, but she was involved with the academic team and "that group" of kids in high school.  She's probably the most insightful and wise person I've ever met.  Truth be told, I asked her if she married me but she said she would never remarry after her husband passed.  She lit up my life every day I got to talk to her with her personality, sarcasm, and sense of humor.  She really cared about us.
• Grandma Hall - I've told her before, I wish I have half of her strength and energy when I'm half her age.  She's over 80, has had a heart attack and stroke, has had so much tragedy in her life, but she still lives alone and can take care of herself pretty well.  My Grandma is awesome.
• My mom - Of course.  How she raised so many kids is beyond me.  So much has gone on in her life, and she is so selfless.  That's probably her best quality, besides being my mom.
• Harriet - My post office lady.  I miss her.  She retired last July.  Sometimes, I'd make an excuse just to go in and see her.  I'd send her my heart priority mail if she asked for it.  She was so genuine and sincere, and I felt connected over the 5 years or so of me going to see her.  When I went to Italy, I mailed her a post card from the Vatican.  When she retired, she gave me big envelopes to send books in because I'd always buy them from her.  She kept saying that it'd be so much cheaper just to buy a bunch at walmart and pack the books at home, but I always liked coming in with a book and she'd grab me an envelope without me having to ask.
• Cindy - My first psychiatrist/counselor.  I talked about her in a previous post, but she definitely played a part in my life and forming my mind to make decisions.
• All 4 of my sisters - J'aime, Serah, Keren, and Deirdre.  I try to play roles in their lives too, but I wonder if they know how big a part of my life they are.  They're all so different, but we all are so close.  I recently heard that we're an intimidating force when we're together because we seek each other out and need to be together.  That's all we've ever known and relied on in our lives.

on review of the list...3/10 were my teachers in one realm or another...you'd think I would have learned how to form a better sentence than the title of this post...