The first relationship that I will describe as part of my childhood web is the relationship that I had with my mother. She was a stay at home mom so I spent many days and hours with her as I grew up. Although we didn't always see things the same way and at times we would argue, I could always talk with mom about almost anything. She would listen and offer her opinion. As an adult, I still talk with my Mom almost daily over the phone. My Dad has always been the one who pushed me to do my best. If I received an A in school, he would ask why it wasn't an A+. As a farmer, he worked long days farming beginning at 3:00am and ending when the sun went down. He was (and still is) a hard worker and he expected the same from all my brothers and I. That is probably the reason that I am a bit of a perfectionist as an adult.
My oldest two brothers, John and Jeff, were my protectors when I was growing up. My oldest brother, John, was always very patient and caring as I followed him around wherever he would go. I have always looked to him as an example and for help. But unlike my relationship with my protective older brothers, my relationship with my twin brothers, Denny and Dan, who are were only three years older, is the one that kept me grounded in reality. This was especially true of my realtionship with Denny. My brother Denny and I played together often and we were at times very competitive with each other. I believe that it is from this relationship that I learned perserverance as I was usually the one who lost our battles but it never stopped me from trying. Today, we are very close. We have left the competitiveness behind as we have developed a mutual respect and have grown to be very supportive of each other.
Terri, I really enjoyed reading about your childhood web. It sounds like your family was very supportive of you and loves you very much. I can relate to the kind of relationship you have with your parents. My mom and I can talk about almost anything, even as adults. My dad is a harder worker too, and he expects the same of me. Like your brother Denny, I too played all the time with my little brother. It's amazing to see how much family has impacted our lives. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteTerri, I liked reading about the relationships that influenced you as a child. It's nice to see that, though you did not always get along with or see eye-to-eye with some of the people in your family, they were still the ones that you learned the most from and the ones that taught you and nurtured you as you grew. I like how you can see that you learned perseverance from your brother. I like how each person taught you something different about life and nurtured you in their own way.
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