Vortexia's Secret

sure we all have our battle scars and horror stories from growing up in our family. we probably all thing our family is nuts on some level and believe that some of our weirder tendencies should be blamed on our parents. but we learned some good stuff from them, too. here are some of the things that i am grateful to have learned from good ol' mom and dad.

• i am thankful that they never raised me to believe that my self-worth was contingent on my job or social status.
• i am glad that they encouraged me to think for myself.
• they also, to a limited degree, supported freedom of expression (within their acceptable boundaries and without being disrespectful in any way).
• they stressed intellectual pursuits and showed me the value of education and lifelong learning.
• they demonstrated their love of music, which in turn, helped me develop my own passion for music, albeit very different from theirs.
• they raised us in a family that valued religion, but was not in any way fanatical. my mom was strangely protective about it and constantly monitored that nobody was trying to convert us to a fanatical or conservative denomination. they also demonstrated that it is important in a relationship to allow both partners to have their religious beliefs validated.
• they showed me that it is important to stand firmly behind your beliefs and back up those feelings with actions (volunteer, participate, etc).
• i am very glad that they are fairly money savvy and know how to do quite a bit with not that much. this is a skill that mayhem and i have already decided we will be learning from them, and unabashedly begging them to teach us. he needs to unlearn all the horrible money lessons of his parents, and we both want to be more like my parents in that regard.
• similarly, i am grateful that they brought me up eating healthy and never allowed us to gorge on junk food. although junk food is still one of my weaknesses, i also appreciate healthy food and try to eat well.
• i am thankful that they showed me a positive example of a loving relationship, one that, despite its faults and quirks, is a good model for mayhem and i to follow.
• i am also very grateful to my aunt and uncle for being ideal role models for mayhem and i. i swear to you that they must still be as in love, if not more in love, today as they were the day they got married. potentially sickening to the envious, but so lovely and magnificent for them. if i could choose to be like any one couple in the world, i think it would be them... and if i turned out like my aunt, i would be ok with that too.

ok, well there is a brief little list of the best things. do you guys think of anything you are especially thankful to have learned from your family?