Mentor (mntôr, -tr)

1. A wise and trusted counselor or teacher. Greek Mythology. Odysseus's trusted counselor, in whose guise Athena became the guardian and teacher of Telemachus.

This all started with a phone call from a previous boss, who now works in a different city, that wants me to come to work for him. After discussing it with hubby I declined his generous offer because the move would have too great of an effect on my family (see before mention Demon Fighting Duels). This man was one of my mentors and it started me thinking about all of the people who had been a mentor to me whether it was intentional or not and I tried to remember if I ever thanked them for what they had done for me. As I did a mental inventory of my mentors I realized just how lucky I’ve been and wondered if anyone I had ever come in contact with got something good out of their relationship with me. So here’s to my mentors (this isn’t all of them, but the ones who stick out the most):

1. Carol – thanks for being nice to me during the awkward High School years (she was a cheerleader and most popular) when I wore glasses and tried to hide.
2. Hope – who died from cancer 18 yrs ago after fighting it for 4 years – thanks for teaching me to always hope and to fight even when you don’t think you have any fight left.
3. Grady – Thanks for believing in me when I didn’t believe in myself
4. Joe – thanks for listening and being a sounding board for some tough decisions in my life.
5. Linda – Thanks for teaching me to always look for the humor in things and for making me laugh.
6. Debra – Thanks for always expecting and encouraging me to do better
7. Keith – thanks for asking for my opinion and making me feel important even when I knew you had most likely made up your mind.
8. Woodrow – thanks for flirting with me even when I ballooned up to 197 lbs.
9. John – thanks for treating me like I had a brain and not forming an opinion on the outside appearance.
10. Billie – thanks for being my sister and for listening to me whether I wanted to Bitch or brag
11. Hubby – thanks for loving me and taking care of stuff just because I tell you that I don’t want to do them – oh, and thanks for letting me have all the control when I need it – and thanks for not getting mad when my OCD raises it’s ugly head (I could go on and on here).

I got me some Thank You notes to write, good thing I just bought stamps – see ya.