Upbringin'

I don't think I ever express enough thankfulness regarding my family. So I'm gonna do some of that here. :-) I was sitting around during spring break last week, and while sharing some tuxedo cheesecake at Damon's with my mom I thought: man. I really did have a unique upbringing.

No, I didn't just realize this. :-D But I did think about it a little more than I have in the past. I think that most of it has to do with the fact that my parents are both very unique individuals. Mom, to start with, is not your average mother. She's a chemE who loves competition in sports and stays away from nail polish and makeup. She's pretty open-minded and not that easily offended... but if you are stupid enough to offend her, she'll make you pay. :-D She's pretty straightforward, and easier to understand than most women you'll meet. And don't give Mom any responsibilities. She hates them because she strives for freedom.

Dad, on the other hand, loves to be in charge. On the outside, he's pretty quiet. But if you know him well enough (or if he likes you enough!), you'll find that he jibbah-jabbahs more than Mom and me combined. Dad is very hard for the average person to understand, and has been misunderstood by most folks pretty much all of his life. He's actually a whole lot more sensitive about stuff like this than Mom.

The cool thing is, neither of them really forced anything down my throat, unlike many Asian parents. Yet they gave me enough guidance and invaluable advice along the way to keep me from making stupid or time-wasting decisions. I played violin and piano and golf because I wanted to. I went to Case because I wanted to. I majored in BME and did two co-ops because I wanted to. Mom gave me lots of encouragement in my pursuits. And Dad... even though he didn't agree with my decisions all of the time, he gave me good ideas to think about (along with his standard phrase "use your brain!"). My parents were always honest with me; no sugar coating, none of that "I'm-going-to-make-this-sound-better-because-I-think-it-might-otherwise-hurt-your-feelings" crud. If they thought something was great, it was great; if they thought it was dumb, it was dumb. (It's also why I have a very hard time taking advice from people who use disclaimers like, "Can I offer you a suggestion?" or "I'm not sure if this will work, but maybe you want to..." Good grief. I know some of you are trying to be nice, or you're afraid of how I might react, but believe it or not, I take advice from people who are confident and those I can debate with a little, not people who are timid.)

I guess that's why I appear like a robot to some people. :-D Some of it has to do with my upbringing, but some of it also has to do with having been out on my own during my co-ops. Like living in my own apartment, for example. Most of you didn't know this, but I used to come home sobbing from work when things were really rough and I had no one to come home to, no activities to do, and no one to call. It was pretty lonely, and I was pretty young. Eventually, I had to tell myself to snap out of it and get on with life - God never intended me to sit around and pity myself, no matter how crummy the situation was. And I finally got to the point during my second co-op where I had adjusted to living on my own so well that I was completely comfortable. Not once during my second co-op did I come home crying. And I've found that in that sense I'm a lot tougher now than I was two years ago when I ventured out for the first time. But going back to my parents... much of how I handled this has to do with them as well. I grew up listening to Dad tell me, "how you handle the situations in your life has everything to do with your attitude" and Mom saying, "hey, it's not that bad; don't think about it like it's the end - tough it out and you'll make it." And you know what? They were right. I don't fear life situations anymore.

Ok, enough jibbah-jabbahrin'... off to a meeting. ;-)