Not like there’s a lot of competition for the honor. I got a compliment once. I think it was along the lines of “Well, you don’t smell TOO bad”. hehe
No, seriously, I was chatting with a friend. She has a 5 year old son who seems to be the perfect embodiment of me: an imp. She told me “If he grows up to be like you I will be very happy. You seem like a great guy”
Wow. How can I live up to that? It seems that I am now a role model. Who would have figured?
Seriously, thank you very much. That is the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me, no question. I am flattered and amazed.
My mom once told me that she had a lot of respect for me.
It was shortly after I’d moved here to Flint, and I had no job, no money, no nothing. I hustled my buns and got a job at a donut shop, working every hour I could get, every shift. It wasn’t easy, and the pay sucked. But I don’t have a college degree, and even though I’ve got other skills (like working for a newspaper in various jobs for eight years), the local paper wasn’t hiring. I did what I had to do, because I really wanted to eat.
My mom told me she respected me for pulling myself up by my bootstraps and doing what I had to do. Hearing that from my mom, who is the Queen of Doing What Must Be Done, mean a lot to me.
I was employed as a truck driver and wearing navy blue slacks and a white uniform shirt, sitting across from a customer in his office. Maybe it was the outfit, or perhaps the guy wasn’t used to drivers sitting up straight and making eye contact, but he said :
"Were you in the military?"
Never in my life, but I felt honored by the association.
I used to play my cello in a music group that included a few older people. One guy was especially crazy about me, took me out to dinner, bought me ice cream, and things like that. One day, out of the blue, he said to me:
“If I were forty years younger, I’d be camping out on your doorstep!”
Once, a guy told me, “I do believe you are the pinnacle of female perfection, seriously, you’re gorgeous. And smart.” He seemed sincere. I was pretty dumbstruck because no one had ever said anything like that to me before. Now whenever I am depressed I just remember what he said and I can’t help but to smile.
The director of the madrigal group i sang in (in high school) was also my Euro history teacher. In his comments for the spring term he remarked that in his opinion I was the best singer in the school.
I have gotten emails from a few people saying, among other things, that they thought I’d be an okay father (some went further than that, but I take what I can get:)).
And then there’s all the people on this site willing to admit they know me:)
The greatest compliment I ever received was from my grandmother, who doesn’t speak English. She was watching me and said something to my mother (I can’t even recall what I was doing at the time but she helped raise me quite a bit). I asked my mother what she said and my mother replied, “Grandma said that you are a very interesting person.”
1.) My friend from high school emailed me right after I had moved into my first apartment with no real job (I was temping) and not a lot of anything. She wrote “I admire you so much. You posess much more strength now than I think I’ll ever have in my life.” She was a good friend in high school, but not my closest. That coming from someone who didn’t love me unconditionally was fantastic.
2.) When telling a male friend about the unhealthy dynamic between SisterRiddles and myself wherein she is the pretty one and I am the smart one, he scoffed, and said “I can’t even begin to tell you how silly and…WRONG that is. You have nothing to worry about.” It wasn’t what he said, it was the complete dismissal of me as being non-pretty.
3.) One of my favorite quotes: "The highest compliment one can be paid by another human being is to be told: “Because of what you are, you are essential to my happiness.” Nathan Brandon.
One of the nurse practioners at work once told me I was one of the best moms she knew. Coming from her, it was a HUGE complement. (I work in a Peds office). I have a great deal of respect for her opinion.
I was having a hard time of life a few years back (for this story) and was working with one of my former roomates whom I adored.
She is the first woman I ever loved, and probably always will.
Anyway, during this time my world was falling apart. My mariage, my household, my life in general.
I was crying and telling her was a miserable failure I was and how I felt I wasn’t a good parent.
Then, she hugged me and she started crying.
She told me that she hoped that one day she could be as good of a person as I was.
When we first met she didn’t have any direction. I didn’t know her from a hole in the ground, and I opened my home to her and gave her a place to stay and some of her self worth back.
She told me what a difference I made in her life and that she loved me.
We get together every once in a while now. I miss her terribly. Especially now that winter is comming. When she first moved in I gave her my bedroom since I couldn’t sleep in the bed since I just had my ex booted out.
Well, I lived in a trailer, and in the winter it would get a bit chilly, so her and I ended up sharing the bed. It was nice to have someone to snuggle up with. Nothing sexual, but that is another story.
I am so proud of her. She has two beautiful boys, she works her butt off, and she is going to school to be a teacher.
She tells me that she wouldn’t have the courage to hold all that down if she hadn’t watched me do so much with two children all by myself, and always keep my chin up.
Wow, I feel a bit better now sharing that.
And Dave, I meant every word I said. Even though I am sure he will make my hair even more silver before it’s time.
You have become a great friend.
