Happy Birthday, Sharon!

Since I joined Open Salon last September, I’ve been considering writing a post where I tell how Sharon, aka mimetalker, has influenced my life. My first thought was that I should ask permission, then she left this:
“13. In full disclosure, I once changed the diapers of the person who put out this open call.
Sorry for the ewww factor, Heidi.
Mimetalker
September 21, 2010 04:03 PM”
as the bump comment for her 12 Random post.
For no reason other than that writing ideas started pouring into my head from the ether, I haven’t revisited the idea of publicly acknowledging her positive influence on my life… until today.
When I was little, my parents loved to tell Sharon and George stories. I appreciated and respected George, but I loved Sharon (the way young children fasten on a grownup and want to just like them). What I gathered, in my childish perception was that wearing two different colored socks would make me cool, telling outrageous stories with a straight face and sticking to them through thick and thin until someone believes in aliens in human form is a worthy endeavor and being happy and devoted to serving humanity and bringing art to the forefront of human well being are critical to a life of joy.
I only accidently stopped wearing mismatched socks for a few years while my children were small and everything in my world cried for order. Fortunately I’m back to wearing one pink and one green sock when I’m wearing a red shirt and black jeans