Parents
Questions from Sunday Brunch.

"Parents are often so busy with the physical rearing of children that they miss the glory of parenthood, just as the grandeur of the trees is lost when raking leaves." -Marcelene Cox

1) What do your parents do for a living?

My father died way to young, at 45, of a massive heart attack in 1964. At the time of his death, he was working as a bookkeeper.

My mother was left with four children ages 19(me), 14, 10, and 8. She used the life insurance money to go college and get a teaching degree. She taught art, humanities, and English at the middle school and high school level until her retirement in the mid 1980s.

Now she happily does whatever she feels like doing: reads, paints, follows politics and world events, attends dance class, and reads Seasons of Violet.

2) How old were your parents when you were born?

Father was 26 and Mom was 22.

The wedding picture is from 1944, about a year before I was born.

I'm sure Mom/Monette will post corrections in the comments if I don't get my dates and ages correct.

3) What is the most important lesson that you learned from your parents?

Life isn't always fair. Sometimes it seriously sucks. Work your way through those times and things will eventually get better again.

4) What is the harshest discipline that you ever received from your parents?

I think I was a pretty good kid because I don't remember getting much discipline.

Once when I was about 5-6 my mother received a cosmetic delivery from a door to door saleslady (Avon?) containing an eyebrow pencil.

While Mom was chatting with the lady, I took the pencil and started drawing with it. It was soft and made wonderful thick lines, but after a few pictures there wasn't much left of it. When my mother got done chatting and turned her attention to me, she was furious and I got a spanking.

I remember this incident because at the time I though it was very unfair. I didn't know it wasn't a pencil to draw with. Of course, I had no business taking something that wasn't mine, but that logic escaped me at that age.

Sorry Mom.

5) What is the thing that you are the most grateful to your parents for?

One thing? If it's going to be one thing, it will need to be a very general thing.

I'm thankful to my parents for loving me and accepting me for who I am. Mom and I have some very different preferences and opinions, but that doesn't stop us from loving each other and enjoying each other's company.