I think my parents are the greatest people, and I am so, so, so thankful for what they have taught me. They taught me to have a great work ethic (to work hard and do good work), to be honest, responsible, respectful, to speak clearly and be polite. My Dad has taught me a lot about running a business, and the way you treat your customers and employees (always always always fairly and with respect). He taught me that anytime I get knocked down, to get my booty back up right away and try harder. My Dad, as he is a conservative and I am about as liberal as one gets, has taught me to see the other side of the story and be more accepting of other people's opinions.
These are the lessons that have really stuck!!
But most of all, they taught me a few special things that I am particularly thankful for:
1.To know good things. To know good food, to know good furniture, to know good antiques, to know good people, to know good jewelry, etc. To know quality!
2. To be social with people that are older than you. I grew up around more 30+age people, and very, very few young people, so I tend to be more social with people that are much older than I am.
3. When you marry someone, you marry their WHOLE family. So you better like the family and the family had better like you!
And most of all:
They taught me to have a positive outlook, always. My parent are not negative in any way, and my family has no history of depression. If we get knocked down, we happily get back up and work harder, and if something bad happens, we accept that it's life and that you can't let it ruin you. My mom has been a nurse for 30 years, so her view on death/dying is very realistic and honest, which can be hard to handle, but at least she's prepared for anything.
They also taught me to be careful with money. My family wasn't as fortunate when I was 10-13 year old, and I didn't have the fineries that others had and was therefore made fun of quite a bit. But it never bothered me that much, because of the good family I had. Now, I may have expensive taste but I am very careful with funds, and nothing goes to waste in my house, and nothing goes to waste at my parents! They don't blow $ on vacations or electronics or cars, they spend only what they need and spend their money on the smaller things, like a nice piece of antique jewelry, a nice dinner out together, or planting a big veggie garden. I've taken all of that from them!
, and because of how awful he was, it has taught me me how NOT to treat people, so he sure taught me something useful.
