Day 7: A Picture of Someone/Something That Has The Biggest Impact On Me

Seriously?

You have no clue what has impacted me the most?

OF COURSE, it's Kasey. It is really, really hard to share her story with everyone, but it would be way harder NOT to share her story.

I miss her every second of every minute of every day. I remember how her soft, curly hair felt on my face, how she held her hands out for me to paint her fingernails.

I'm also going to mention my biggest influence...

Daddy

He was a gruff, no-nonsense man with a heart of gold. Whenever I get into my victim, poor-Kelly state of mind, I can hear him telling me to quit my whining and do something about it.

He is the only man I could ever (and will ever) trust.

Standing at a towering 5'4" and weighing in at 136 lbs., he was afraid of no one and never minced words. He was absolutely NEVER politically correct and didn't give a damn about what anyone else thought.

If I run into someone that I knew was a friend of Daddy, I know they are 'good people.' Gary Martin was an excellent judge of character and didn't clutter his life with people who weren't worth his time.

When I worked with him at Bosch, my main motivation for working my ass off was to impress my father. And I did. There was no way in hell I'd embarrass him or give anyone a reason to tell him I wasn't up to par. I wanted him to be proud of me. There was nothing more important that that.

I think I need to remind myself that he's still watching over me and that I need to, as he would say, get my ass in gear.

LOVE YOU, Daddy.