3 of 30: Parents

If you haven't been following along from the beginning, start here.

3. Describe your relationship with your parents

My relationship with my parents is just about as good as one could hope, considering that I've been living in their basement for almost three years!


I can ask my father anything, especially about language or religion and get an serious, in depth answer. I usually end up getting more of an answer than I bargained for, too. When I was beta reading a novel for a friend, I went to him for grammatical input and clarification. I kept him up an hour or two past his normal bedtime, but he was happy to help.
I remember that, as a teenager, all my church teachers knew that my father was an authority on religion and would frequently look to me to answer the hard questions. In spite of having a fairly decent knowledge of religious topics due to the trickle-down effect of living with my father, I wasn't an encyclopedia of doctrine. I wish I had told them so. ;)
My father is a romantic, a poet and a short story writer. He's a jokester and when you get him laughing, his humor can be contagious.




My mother is the grounded one. I always knew that if I looked at my mother's face when my father was telling a story (or a tall tale), I would be able to tell if what he was saying was completely true by the expression on her face. She can tell a good joke too, but her humor is usually subtler and requires a bit more thought to "get it".
I can ask my mother questions about life, relationships, health as well as many other things and get a well thought out response that comes from years of experience and wisdom. My mother is an old-fashioned romantic; where men should always be gentlemen and women should be ever graceful, kind and tender. I think if she had been born in another time, she would have been in a Jane Austen novel.


I inherited several qualities from my parents. My long-windedness, I get from my father, as well as my love of fantasy and ridiculously impossible movies. From my mother I get a fondness for romantic movies, patience and a compulsive eye-roll at lame jokes.
Of course, there is so much more, but, in a nutshell, that's about it.


I love and respect my parents and am glad for the time I've had recently to get to know them better as an adult.

Next Time: List 10 things you would tell your 16-year-old self, if you could.