Parents

[Wayne Goodwin]

If you were to come before your parents, what would you tell them you'd learned from them?

[Wayne Goodwin]

To tell them i loved then and wished i had helped them more for them not to have to worry about having enough money to live on . They provided me with a good child hood and pushed me earning a common knowledge to becoming an adult .

[crestofwaves]

From both:  the love of life and how to be fair.

[Wayne Goodwin]

My Grandma taught me how to milk a cow . Loved going in hay loft gather eggs . That was where i kept some cigars that were so dry they made ya high or sick . It's a wonder i hadn't fell out of that hay loft . I also kept my nudey books . In a Cigar box . Lot's of self serve in that loft . That was until Grandma caught me .... Grand Paw taught me hot to saw slabs from the sawmill .

[frenchy]

my mom taught me a lot about self reliance and honesty and fairness .. how to handle money and be fiscally responsible .. i have to admit tho as a kid i fought her tooth and nail .. i was not an easy child .. i wasn't mean or cruel .. but i was the proverbial wild child .. i ended up in boystown for awhile which wasn't really labeled as a reform school but it was .. and we had councilors there that would beat the snot outta you if you acted up .. mighta been a time or two i deserved it but none come to mind at the moment .. and through it all my mom was steadfast in her love of me .. she was an orphan raised by nuns from the time she was like 5 or 6 so she really didn't have that mother image to pattern herself after but i think she did a good job with me .. considerin that a lot of the kids i knew growin up are in jail , dead or in the mob now.. a lot of what she tried to teach me has gotten through .. and every now and then i'll say somethin and it hits me .. wow thats my moms words commin outta my mouth .. and don't get me wrong my mom was not a pushover .. just the opposite .. she was tough as nails .. she had to be tho cause my dad left when i was 8 .. i didn't really learn all that much from him . he wasn't a mean guy mind you but i never saw him after he left .. he was more of the type of guy who would give you a quarter to just go away and you thought wow what a great guy .. i understood years later that he was just your typical alcoholic and he had a problem .. i used to think it was somethin i did because he never came to see me .. but it was the alcohol . i think there may have been a time or two he meant to but probably had a few drinks first and then said well , maybe next week would be better.. and that was that ..and i'll admit i was angry and hurt about it for years but once i realized it was really the alcohol and had nothin to do with me i let it all go .. all that shit gets heavy if you carry it around with you everyday ..so what did i learn from my dad ?? well not to drink to the point that i can't be responsible . and there ain't no athieists in foxholes .. yeah he told me that .. 

[crestofwaves]

Frenchy: You were a wild child because you are creative and sensitive.  I see this so many times--the more intelligent and creative, the more the behavioral problems.

[frenchy]

thats partly true cresty , but i think my dad leavin when i was young made me act out a bit ..that and livin in the projects there's always an opportunity to do the wrong thing .. but believe it or not even tho i ran the streets long after a little guy like me shoulda been home and saw some things i probably shouldn't have when push came to shove more often than not i'd make the right choice .. notice i said more often and not always .. sometimes .. well sometimes i could really screw up .. i remember once in the 5th grade all of us kids would go home for lunch and then go back to the school and sometimes i'd just not go back cause i didn't feel like it .. so i talked all the guys in the 5th grade into takin the afternoon off with me .. yeah .. i got into a boatload of shit behind that .. and they knew it was me right away .. but they didn't have to guess anyway cause half they guys gave me up like right away .. i remember at the time they were buildin a new exstention for the turnpike pretty close to where the goethals bridge was so they were knockin down all these houses that were in the way and i had the whole 5 grade class hangin out in them houses for the afternoon .. and we had a great time .. the only thing missin was a keg of beer and a few joints .. of course we were only about 10 so we couldn't get the keg of beer .. just kiddin .. but there was a crueller factory not too far away and as they were loadin the trucks i got a couple of the kids to stage a fight so the guys would come runnin and the rest of us grabbed a couple of boxes of cruellers  and we had cruellers all afternoon .. to a 10 year old that was as good as beer .. and it always tasted sweeter when you snagged it like that .. 

[frenchy]

i think i'm passed the statute of limitations on that now ain't i ?? 

[crestofwaves]

I was wondering where you grew up, then I remembered:  NJ!

I can say that my childhood was charmed. I almost feel guilty about it. We had little money but so much family and music and food.  I had, and this is unusual, a very happy childhood.

Adult life's been a bit bumpy, lol.

[frenchy]

aww cresty you're doin pretty good .. other than a few million in dental bills and a few hicups here and there we all wanna be just like you when we grow up .. so.uhh.. when you gonna put up a pic of that million dollar smile ?? so we can see if you got what you paid for ?? 

[crestofwaves]

Not for a week at least.  I am taking a week off and going to look at the ocean in Myrlte Beach for a bit.  This working again is killing me--honest.  Daily pressure--ugh!  We had this planned when they called me back to work, so off I goooooooooooooooo.  Leaving tomorrow after I get my F*****G grades entered.

[frenchy]

oh cool crest .. be sure to get some pics of you on the beach in your bikini.. with a big smile .. 

[blithe spirit]

They instilled my independent nature I guess...make my own path and all that...very strong sense of right and wrong...not afraid to speak out and go against the grain..and call bullshit for what it is...strong curiosity...If there is something you don't know it's your job to find out. I was the oldest of five children, so I learned to be a protector.. Dad was an absent father due to his military career and his alcoholism...the family moved a lot... exposed to different cultures and ways of life..I felt loved and vaulable.