3 Influential People in my Life

I wouldn’t be where I am in my life today without three important people. These three people have shaped my world & life through different stages and helped be to grow. They are compassionate, skillful and loving individuals. From each, I’ve learned something that helped my life in one way or another.

            The first and most influential person in my life is a man who has shaped not only my world, but the world of many others around him, a man who accomplished the first of many things in his family; a man who served his country, traveled the world and continues every day to provide for his family. A man who constantly helps those around him, and who continues to teach me something new each day, the first man I ever loved, my father.

My Father with my Grandmother

            Born Johnnie Amedeo Apolloni, he is a first generation Italian-American who decided he was ready to enter this world while my grandparents were crossing the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel from Canada. Because my grandparents held Canadian citizenship at the time, my father was the first natural born American in our family. As the eldest child of his family, my father was the first to graduate from Fordson High School in 1978. Being the first to graduate set an example for his younger siblings; no matter what hardships their family faced, graduating was indeed possible. In 1983, he joined the armed forces. During this time he completed 52 airborne jumps and became parachute qualified, started his travelling and became Sargent in just 22 months. My father travelled to Korea, Germany, Turkey, Panama, England and Italy. During his time in Italy, he climbed the Dolomite Mountains and was a part of the first airborne unit stationed in Europe. After five years of service, he was honorably discharged and returned home to his family.

Old Photo of my Father Skating on a Pond

            On August 24, 1991, my father married the love of his life, my mother, and soon began his next journey in life by starting a family. Alongside my mother my father raised not just one but three daughters and a son. He always encouraged us to reach for our dreams and taught us that anything was possible. My father sparked an interest in reading to all of his children and to this day, when I’m searching for strength, I can still hear my father’s encouraging voice saying “Reading is Knowledge and Knowledge is Power.” In the early years of our family, my father became self-taught in drywall application, carpentry and even rewired the electrical by himself in our first home. One of my favorite accomplishments looking up to my father was the play room he built for my siblings and me to play in. We spent many winters building snowmen and skating, and made countless memories in the summer cooling off in our little plastic kid’s pool even though my dad just barely fit in it. My father wanted his family to have the best life that he could provide and did so by working two jobs in order to move his family out of the polluted suburb of Detroit known as Delray.

My Father's Birthday 2017

My father has taught me so many things in life; to be kind and humble, to continue to learn and work towards my goals and most of all to enjoy life. Being a hard worker is something else that I also learned from my father. To this day he has put 26 years of hard work and service in at the United States Postal Service. My father has always been there when I needed him the most; every time I had fallen, he helped me rise up again. Through every unsuccessful attempt at a project and every heart break I ever experienced, he was always there with open arms and the right advice to make things better. I cannot help but to smile every time I think about how my father made time to take us on school field trips, to take us to the movies, or all of the winters where he would build us an ice pond in the backyard to skate on. I am so thankful for my father and truly believe that without him, I would not be where I am today.

           

            The next influential person in my life is actually watching over me in heaven. She is one of my guardian angels, the glue that held my maternal family together and one of the strongest women I know, my Abuela, Evelyn Anaya.

Photo of my wela at 14 years old

            Known as “Wela”, my maternal grandmother was always my biggest fan. Looking back at the things she accomplished in her life amazes me. My abuela was always helping those in need at all times in her life, even when she had nothing to give. My maternal side of family had a rough life, but with nine children my abuela had so much love and always did her best to provide for them. My abuela was one of the greatest cooks in our family; I still remember the smells of her Mexican rice and tamales on Christmas Eve and her delicious menudo soup she would work on all morning. She has been my inspiration, alongside my mother, when it comes to my passion of cooking.

One of my first Christmas Eve's with my Wela
(Second from the left)

            My abuela believed in all of her children and grandchildren and always cheered us on to continue to be good people, to love each other and to live life happily. Reflecting back on the time my abuela was alive makes me wish I had more time with her. I would have loved to learn her oh-so tasty recipe for tamales and to learn more about her life growing up. But our time was cut short, and my abuela fell ill with cancer. I remember when she stayed at our home with us for a few months in the fall, I remember seeing how the cancer was taking a toll on her body but I also remember that she tried as hard as she could to live out the rest of her life as best as she could.

            Sometimes I get scared that I’ll eventually forget her voice, her infectious laugh, her spooky Mexican stories that she would tell my siblings and I to set us straight when we would act up and how her big bear hugs felt. A few weeks before my abuela left our house, I had a conversation with her about how I thought I would never find love (something that a 13 year old should not be worrying about). My abuela said “Mija, don’t worry you will find someone when the time is right. He’ll be someone who lives close by, a nice young man who will treat you right and love you unconditionally. For now enjoy life.” Sure enough, five years later I found him. I absolutely believe I found him by faith, and my abuela made sure to see it through.

Another Christmas Eve Photo with my sisters and siblings

           The last influential person in my life is that same man by abuela told me I would meet one day, my fiancé Daniel. Although he is the most recent influential person in my life, he has also helped me grow into the person I am today.

            Daniel and I met while working at Best Buy, one of my first jobs ever. Although we went to the same high school, we never really crossed paths. (Also another reason why I believe my abuela’s “fortune,” the time just wasn’t right then.) Upon meeting Daniel for the first time, I was instantly head over heels for him. Blonde hair, blue eyes and into computers, he was definitely my kind of guy. It took a while before we became friends but when we did, I had felt as if he was the missing piece to my happiness. I had never before met someone who made me laugh or smile so much in one conversation.

            Throughout our relationship, Daniel has made such an impact on my life. Being my first for many things in life, if it was not for him I would be missing out on so much. My first time at Buffalo Wild Wings was with him; my first time playing putt-putt golf and my first time traveling over 8 hours away from my family on a trip to Marquette was with him as well. So many classic movies I had never heard of before were seen with him too. Daniel has also helped me become more social in life. I had always been a quiet and reserved person, but when I met Daniel, I was introduced to so many new friends and to my surprise a big wonderful family, filled with aunts, uncles, cousins and second and third cousins as well.

            Over the last couple of years in our relationship, Daniel has been one of my biggest supporters and fan. He listens to all my thoughts, worries, stories and dreams. When I was officially diagnosed with PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome) Daniel made it his mission to help me with this lifelong battle. He encouraged me to live a better lifestyle and took the time to read up on help to deal with this condition as a significant other. On my bad days, he made sure to always let me know how he thought the world of me and that he was in this in the long run. I cannot imagine spending my life with anyone else; I would be lost without him and know that my life would be so different if it were not for him.