I love my parents.

G

greenfreak

New Member
The older I get, the more I love my parents. And the more I realize what they sacrificed for me and understand their mistakes and decisions in life.

My mother didn't finish high school. Her father died when she was 16 and she helped my Grandmother care for her five siblings. After raising four children of her own, she decided to go back to school. She got her diploma and was attending the same college I did, at the same time. We had some of the same teachers and instead of living up to an older sibling's reputation as a student, I was living up to hers.

My father is an alcoholic. I had no relationship with him as a child. When I was 24, he gave up drinking and came to me to apologize for the affects his drinking had on me. We had an honest discussion and I agreed to try and trust him. Almost 10 years later, he hasn't touched a drop. He and I have a closer relationship than I ever dreamed of as a child. I'm so proud of him, so many alcoholics don't succeed in quitting and having any resemblance of a happy life.

My parents live in a gated community and everyone there calls my dad the Mayor. He knows everyone, talks to everyone and always has a smile on his face. If he can do it, he doesn't hesitate to help anyone with anything if they just ask. My mother if one of those women who you want to be around. She's just as likeable, with a sarcastic edge that always gets me laughing. Whenever I have good news in my life, I can't wait to tell her. She's my biggest fan.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm damn glad I have the parents I do. They're not perfect and neither am I. But I wouldn't trade them for the world.

What are your parents like?
 
My mother spent nearly 20 years as a stay-at-home mother of 5 kids. She then went back to school while working as a teacher's aid and dealing with those same 5 children (aged 6-16) and got her masters degree - with a 4.0 average. She then spent another nearly 20 years as an elementary school English teacher.

My father did 22 years in the Air Force, as a pilot until his eyes went bad, then doing everything from babysitting missiles to acting as liaison with Lockheed for the C141 stretch program. He also pulled an MBA while in service. After mustering out, he spent 20 years at Lockheed, retiring as head of the FOD program (IIRC).

They raised 5 children, all of whom are happy and productive. Not an easy feat in anyone's book.

As my Dad began to consider retirement, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. 6 months later, we lost him at age 59. That was ten years ago, and I still miss him every single day. Mom decide to follow through with their plans of building a house on their mountain property in north GA. Pushing 70 now, she lives 15 minutes from the nearest paved road and likes it that way, thank you very much.
 
My parents? Hm, what's there to say.. *scratches head*

Well, my dad was (is) a fisherman, which meant that he was away for parts of the year, and when he wasn't, he was usually working on his boat or something. We never did activities together, apart for me going with him on the boat now and then, or tagging along when he was driving wherever to get whatever. He is a very calm, quiet man, and I have never seen him upset or really angry. (Well, he's had his moments in the garage working on the car and stuff.. ;) )

My mom suffered from anxiety and depressions while I grew up, which means we didn't spend all that much quality-time together either. She was always very open about her problems, something that I admired. I knew others who had mom's suffering from mental problems, and in their homes it was treated as a secret.. She is a very kind person, and has a very big heart. I get to see her quite often, we usually go and stay at her house whenever we have a holiday. She still struggles a bit with mental problems but not like when I was a kid. Because of this, she is on disability. She is a very popular person, and is considered a resource by the people suffering from, and working with mental problems in her community. But dear God, I wish she would stop talking about her frigging curtains!

Both my parents are honest people, and never have I heard them talk negatively about, or shown prejudice against anyone. They're just darned nice people.

They got divorced when I was 14, which I didn't really mind. I considered it to be their business, not mine. They remained close friends, and these days, it's mom who'll get on the phone reminding us when the woman dad lives with has a birthday coming up.. :blush:
 
My dad was a very kind hearted man. When my brother and I were younger he always let us help him with whatever project he was doing around the house (even if we were actually hindering and slowing the entire process down). He was always there for every play we were in, every concert we did, every award we received. He believed in family time and giving us a good life. My dad was diagnosed with leukemia when I was 16, I was in Germany at the time. I came home so I could be near him. My dad pased away 11 months after he was diagnosed, I was 17 at the time, he was 43. I still miss him all the time but me, my mom and my brother will never forget him or what he did for all of us through the years.

My mom stayed at home raising me and my brother for 12 years (I was 12, he was 7 when she went back to work). She works in the same factory that she went to work in then. She is currently looking for something better because her job was good as a secondary income but as a primary it's not so hot especially with the price of everything going up and her pay not going up so fast...She is a very kind woman who would do anything for me or my brother. She worked 40 hour weeks and still went to Toronto (30-40min drive) everyday to see my dad when he was in the hospital. She worked odd shifts, and sometimes very long shifts with only short breaks whenever my dad was allowed to come home from the hospital so that she was home for most of the time I was at school and at work when I was at home (so he would have someone home with him the majority of the time) and so that she could bring him to and from toronto for his clinic appointments. Somedays she drove to Toronto two or three times. She always puts me and my brother ahead of herself and I can not wait until I am done school and can do wonderful things for her. She has been saving for a few years so she can take me an my brother away next summer after I graduate from Uni and my brother from highschool.
 
I love my parents. I love my grandparents. They all mean the world to me.
& I love seeing them with my children.

... and I even can say that I love my in-laws :D
 
i have absolutely nothing in common with either of my parents and we rarely speak. neither of them have ever laid eyes on my two youngest daughters and have made no effort to. i have not exactly put forth the effort either.
 
not really. we are all so different we stand each other for more than a few days. we're much happier not speaking.
*hugs back anyway
 
dad dropped out of high school then enlisted in the Army for 4 years. did it to get out of the house from what i understand. his mom was a bit dominearing.
he spent the better part of his enlistment in Germany doing something with communications. can never remember exactly what it was, but he needed secret clearance to do it. took the Army several months to clear him because his grandmother was from what used to be Yugoslavia and there werent many official records left for the Army to check. he got his GED after the Army and became a programer for a local supermarket chain. worked his way up to MIS director (or something like that) and is currently semi-retired. (there were a couple of job changes in the interim.)
mom graduated high school and and followed dad to Germany where they got married. she worked as an executive asisstant for the same supermarket chain for decades till they eventually hounded her out to replace her with someone that would work cheaper. she's been working part-time as an office assistant/manager for a local waste removal company for a number of years now.
both parents worked full time when my sister and i were kids. our maternal grandmother basically raised us. didnt see much of mom and even less of dad. lots of tension in the house back then.
i've always had a better relationship with my mom than with dad, but we've both been working on that the past decade. we're not best buddies, but we arent strangers to each other either. oddly enought, its vice versa for my sister.
 
Dad: Big time sci-fi/horror fan. He plans to see the Hitchiker's guide to the Universe and laughed when I said 42 is the answer. He can be a bit cold tho

Mom is a sweetheart. She treats any girl I bring home almost like a daughter and has been the warm loving mom.


thats what my parents are like. Am very proud of them
 
My mom is the strongest woman ever. She was a Marine wife so much of the time she had to raise us on her own - dad was over seas a lot. She raised the first four grandchildren too because .. well .. let's just say my older brother and sister were pretty dumb ... she kept us together though .. and still does .. we're still afraid to tell her when we fail ... she's the first I go to when I've accomplished something. We're a lot alike ... no matter what I do not to be LOL ... she's smart .. and loving .. and will bite your head off when you need it. When she was in the hospital earlier this year, I sooo wasn't ready to be without parents .. it scared the hell out of me .. i'm glad she's well

My dad .. was the greatest man .. always supportive of his kids and grandkids .. sometimes to a fault .. the best father and grandfather .. ever. I miss him terribly.
 
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