Coffee & Conversation: Who has influenced you the most in your life?

Linking up today with Kalyn & Lauren!
As you read in the title, today's question is: 
Who has influenced you the most in your life, personally or professionally?
This question is a tough one!  I have had many influences, and two of them are definitely my parents.

 They have always displayed a genuine love towards my brother and I, and they have taught us to love the Lord as well.  I know I wouldn't be the person that I am today without them, but there's someone else that has influenced me as well. 
My Mimi. 

I have always been Mimi's "baby girl". I am the only granddaughter that she has, and I was the youngest grandchild for quite some time, so needless to say - I have been spoiled! 

I can remember getting "tummy aches" at school (read: I usually only got a "tummy ache" when the clouds got dark because I am was terrified of bad weather, so I needed a legit excuse to go home), and she would pick me up, take me by the dollar store, let me spend 5 dollars, and come home for the rest of the day. Sometimes when she would pick me up, she would have already gone by the dollar store and picked me up something. She always had Sugar Waffers and a Sprite with her when she would get me from school - because those "cure a hurting tummy". 

As I grew older, in high school I started to appreciate Mimi in a different way. She was no longer just someone to pick me up from school or babysit me while I was too young to stay alone. She was becoming my FRIEND. Of course, she had always been my friend, but she was like a "best friend". Someone I called in a state of panic, excitement, disappointment, questioning, or need. She always had the right words to say, and by the time we hung up the phone I felt 110% better. She never led me astray or made me believe in something that wasn't true.

Mimi is a true woman of God. She can always back up her beliefs about things with Words from The Bible, and she believes them without a shadow of a doubt. She encourages me by the faith she has, and she has been such a Godly influence in my life. 

Not only does she have a strong Faith, but she also has a strong will. In the late months of 2011, Mimi was diagnosed with Lymphoma. Basically, cancer of the lymph nodes. I can remember the day I found out something was wrong, eventually finding out the diagnosis, and then having to figure out how to move forward. I felt like I abandoned Mimi for a few weeks because I didn't quite know what to say. It was a somewhat dark time in our family, each day was spent almost holding our breath. 

Finally, one day it seemed to click. Mimi was flying through chemo, and she was doing great. We were in constant prayer for her, and so were many others. We knew we had to rejoice in the Lord for having His hand of protection on her, and thank Him for being by our sides instead of allowing this to overcome us. 

Some days were hard.

Some days it was tough to be thankful.

But Mimi just kept telling us how she was "okay", and "going to be fine", and I think eventually she had said it enough to make us believe it. 

While it was hard for me to go through, I had to remind myself how hard it had to be for her as well. I spent a lot of the first weeks after her diagnosis feeling sorry for myself. 

"What if something happens to her?"

"Why did THIS have to happen to her?"

I had to stop that.

I began trying to discipline myself to THANK GOD for what He had already accomplished thus far in her journey each time I had a negative thought.

& sooner rather than later, it was over. 

In May, they declared Mimi "cancer free", and she has been in remission for almost a year. 

She is still the person I call when something great has happened, when something goes wrong, or simply when I need to talk. She is my anchor in this life, and I don't know what I would do without her. I have spent days crying on her shoulder and nights laughing in my room with her. We have spent hours talking on the floor in my room, and have traveled near and far away together, and there's no one in this world who knows (and keeps) my secrets the way she does. 

She is one of my most favorite people, always supporting me no matter what I do - even when I don't believe in myself, she does.

She loves the ones I love, and she takes up for me when need be. 

She's almost like an older, wiser sister that I never had.

The person that I am has always been enough for her.

I hope that one day my grandchildren feel the same way about me as I do about my grandmother. I hope that as I age, I will grow to be as wise, kind, smart, level-headed, and genuine as she is today. I wouldn't trade her for anyone in this world, and God couldn't have picked a better "Mimi" for me!

I am grateful for all the time I have to spend with her, even if it's only an hour on a Sunday afternoon, or a 15 minute talk on my way to class. 

Whatever it is, it's always so refreshing to hear her point of view, and I will always heed her advice to be the best. 

 Truthfully, I believe with all my heart that even when she may have felt like she falling apart, she was (and is) the glue that held (and holds) our family together.

.."What children need the most are the essentials that grandparents provide in abundance. They give unconditional love, kindness, patience, humor, comfort, lessons in life, and most importantly - cookies."

- Rudolph Giuliani