Becoming Your Parents

I spent years of my young life promising that I would NEVER be anything like my parents. They were too mean, they weren't cool, they did things just to embarrass me...You know the drill.

Don't know when it happened, but I do know it did. My parents are cool.

Witness the pictures above. My parents pretending to be FoxNews correspondents delivering news from the Western White House (Crawford, TX for those of you with liberal leanings...). This or any other feat of a funny nature was something I thought them incapable of in years past.

I've often told my father that I wish he had been this funny when I was younger. He simply replies, "I was, you weren't smart enough to appreciate it." Sad part is, I'm beginning to think he's right. As the old adage goes, the older I get, the smarter he gets. We have reached a point that we speak our own "funny" language comprised of his sayings and movie quotes from such classics as Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, The Princess Bride, and Waterhole #3.

The tough love approach to parenting has definitely proven it's benefits. (The fact that I'm a semi-productive citizen and not in permanent residence in a 4 by 8 Huntsville apartment is proof enough.) With my experience in dealing with students of all types of backgrounds, I see it's benefits even more. As frustrated as I was with him growing up, I strive to match his example now. His work ethic is unmatched. His ingenuity second to none. His commitment to God, his family and his work I admire greatly.

My mother has always been my confidant. I could whine to her about anything and almost everything. She never let me doubt that I was her favorite. (Still am by the way...) She works to be as great a mother in law as she is a mother. She's the greatest Mimi there has ever been.

I've heard many times, "I becoming my Mother (or my Father)." I simply pray I'm that lucky.

Chris