Holden's post

Holden said I could share this with all of you. He recently wrote an English project entitled This is my Life.

I may share more later, but for now I'll share this because it's almost Mother's Day.

I hope you enjoy it. I know I did.

Most Influential Person by Holden

The person who has had the biggest positive influence on my life would have to be my mom. I think most of this can be attributed to the fact that it was just me and her for a period of time and we developed a relationship that I can't have with anyone else. She had me when she was only seventeen but loved me before I was even born. She did the best she could with me as a newborn while trying to be a high school student and later a college student. She balanced these two things well, but she also had a lot of help from my grandparents that we lived with for the first six tears of my life. I am also very thankful for them. After that we moved to our own little house in ----- where she met my step-dad, Michael, my now adopted father. We didn't have the easiest life or the most money but my mom still provided for me. When it came time for Christmas or other times she made sure I was very happy and went to great lengths to make sure I was comfortable even if she wasn't. She also gave me the birthday present I had always asked for when she gave birth to my little brother Riley.

I eventually became a teenager and realized that my mom was never right and that I knew everything. Even if I was stubborn or if I am stubborn today she will still love me and even if she fusses or yells at me I know she's just trying to do what is best for me. Every Christmas she always writes me a letter telling me different things that help me and always means a lot to me. She's always been there for me and I know she always will.

My mom has also been a good role model for me. She is a Christian and a moral role model for me to look up to. Ever since I was little I have been going to church because she first started taking me. She also set the example by not going and dropping me off there, but she went herself every Sunday she could. She helped in Bible School and taught and is still teaching in my youth class with my dad. She has been an active member in our church since I can remember and that is something I want to grow up to be. She also sets a Christian example in our house. She tries to give me a world to grow up in that will make me the good person I am supposed to be. Certain things like T.V. channels and internet sites that I shouldn't see are blocked out in my house because she knows they are not right and that I will be a better person by not seeing them. She also tries to keep music from me that is unedited so I won't hear language like that repeatedly and let it become part of my everyday vocabulary. She was a vital part in my Christian life and still is and that is the most important thing she could have ever done for me.

I picked my mom as my most influential person because she has had a positive impact on my life on so many different levels. She loves me like I know no one else in this world does, because we have that relationship I was talking about that is different and special and can only be between us. She supported me when I was young while she was still a kid growing up herself, barely older than me. That took courage and a mindset that I can truly appreciate. At that point adoption could have easily been an option, but I'm glad it wasn't because I wouldn't trade my mom for any other mom in the world.

Don't I have a great kid? I am so blessed to have him (and Riley) in my life. Reading this made me realize that our kids do notice the things we do or don't do for them most of the time.

I can't take all the credit for Holden. He is a great kid. I don't know how much I had to do with that. I think I just got lucky. One thing I do know, I wouldn't trade him for any other kid in the world.