Have you turned into your parents?

Actually, Yes, I'm very much now like my Dad's personality.
I understand why he was always so happy
and tried to enhance every moment for everyone.
After he died, my Mother was despondent for the rest of
her life. I'm not going to be like that.
That's incomplete vision. Suffering is not necessary.
There is something magical in finding joy in life and in
everything in existence. My Dad knew that.
 
Alligatorob said:
For a long time I hated it when people said I reminded them of my father... That has passed, now it's my grandfather.
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I tell you something funny on that subject..my uncle who altho' married, never had children and he and his wife lived a very handsome, comfortable life in Toronto coming over to visit us in Scotland every 4 years. he was my fathers' elder brother and they were very alike to look at but different personailites..

Both of them had film star looks and both were often mistaken for film stars.. particularly Dirk Bogarde .. and out of 16 children born to my grandparents they were the 2 who stood out as good lookers..

My granda and granny were not what you would call a particualrly handsome looking pair, and didn't bare much resemblance to my father or his brother.. unlike the rest of the ''kids''..

I last saw my uncle when I was about 13 and he would have been around 45... ( yet seemed older to me , this was in the late 60's and people in their 40's look much like people in their 60's today) )... and then not again until the day my mother died.. and he came straight to our house that day .... but I didn't recognise him.

I was in total shock because my Granda had died aged 76 exactly one week prior to my mum.. so we'd lost our mum and grandfather in the space of 7 days.. and my father and uncle lost their father, wife and sister-in-law.. .. and there in my livingroom was my grandfather standing large as life... and in my hysteria at my mother's death, it didn't dawn on me that in just 5 years since the last time I saw him, my Uncle Alan had turned into my granda.. and I really thought my grandfather was standing in front of me..

What's more interesting to note, that Uncle had gone from a handsome strapping film star look-a-likey in his mid 40's to someone who looked small and old exactly like a 76 year old.. but who was only around 50 years old..
 
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fuzzybuddy said:
We, all, know what this means. Have you turned into your parents?
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In a lot of ways, I have.

I'm far less tolerant than they were, more judgmental, more suspicious.

But I'm pretty honest and I value self-reliance very highly, and have no problems with working.

They were way, way, way more trusting, and trusting of authority and institutions than I am, that's for sure. Much of it might be the times in which we live--people like them would be skinned alive in any major metropolitan area on the west coast of the US.
 
Maywalk said:
YES. I am fiery tempered like my mother and I have my fathers quirky sense of humour.
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Hah! It *does* work that way!

If you have any kids, can you see part of your spouse's personality, and part of yours?

I all of a sudden saw what it looked like to be very skeptical and hard on people, like I often can be, coming out of my daughter. Now, on the one hand this really has kept me out of bad situations, but I've been vaguely aware that a lot of people don't like it when I do it.

So then I saw her doing it and I thought: "Wow. So that's why people get pissed art me..."
 
When I look in the bathroom mirror I see Mum's eyes looking back at me, and I can't help smiling as I think of her. We have a saying in our family, "What would Nellie do?" and it reminds all of us to be kind to animals and generous to people.

If someone said to me, "You are just like your mother", I would take it as a compliment and feel very good inside.
 
Wasn't wise enough to stay out of it at that age. This is the main reason it's the young who fight, and die in our never ending wars. Not sure what that has to do with this post, but there you go.

Sawfish said:
Did you find the draft to be a major formative event in your life? By this I mean, if you tried to stay out of it, did it show you clearly how you are seen as an exploitable commodity?
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Mom was a sweet lady, trusting everyone, naive to a fault. How I miss her so.
Dad, who I now understand, most likely suffered from PTSD, was either tyrannical or thoughtful (giving me
my first watch when I started Junior High .. a transistor radio when I turned 13).

I'd like to think I have the best of their good qualities.
 
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