In His Light

I have 5 brothers and one sister.  None of us are the same.  Some of us are optimist, some of us are pesimist.  Some of us are happy, some of us are not.  Some of us find reasons to complain, some of us find reasons not to complain.  One of us is gone, he has left a terrible void in our lives.  A place filled by him that no other could fill, and yet he was different from all of us.  Yet any of us can walk down the street and everyone knows that we are related.  We don't see it so much, but everyone else tells us how much alike we look.  Yet we are all different.  Inside where it really counts.  People say our parents mold us into what we are today.  Then how can all seven of us be so different?  I can name several people on my path that have changed me.  All for the better, because I chose to use whatever experience for betterment. 

My Mother taught me how to laugh in the face of adversity, to always put my children and husband first, and to have a back like a crocodile, so that everything could just roll off of it.

My Dad taught me how to love and laugh.  And to always look through rose colored glasses, and to not hold on to a grudge.

My ex husband taught me how very hard it was to let go of someone whom you loved dearly because you both had grown up and didn't want the same things in life.

My ex mother-in-law brought me back to my Lord and Savior, which I can never thank her enough for, she taught me that it was okay to love her even if she wasn't my mother-in-law anymore.  She taught me how to stand tall when things were crashing in around me.

I had a one night stand one time and he taught me what humiliation was, and that I would never think so low of myself again.

My oldest brother taught me how to hurt so bad that I thought I was going to die.  When he left us.  And the fact that I did live and though I miss him terribly I can survive.  He also taught me what the words big brother meant.  He told me about boys and what and what not to give them.

My next oldest brother taught me what it was like to have a best friend.  And a dreaded enemy. 

All of my family have taught me things, some I will always cherish and some that I would rather not remember.

I have had many a friend along the way, who have taught me that you can have a good friend that you truly do not know, or that seems to share your very soul.

My parents raised me and raised me well.  But the big question is who has molded me?