I'm not a watcher (just a journal browser), but both of my parents are pretty... well, don't want to just randomly air my dirty laundry. At any rate, my dad's one of those textbook sociopaths who thinks love can simply be bought, and my mom suffers from extreme anxiety and just stays home in her room every day, for quite a long time. I don't have any real conversations with either of them... my mom's not the brightest tool in the shed despite having a Masters though her heart is in the right place, and my dad thinks only about how things affect himself.

How they produced a functioning kid like me is beyond my imagination. I guess I was lucky enough to realize they were bad examples of what to be? :v

I have no relationship with my mother, and I prefer it that way. She was drug addict for my most of my childhood, and the lead reason why I spent a chunk of my life in foster care. She never fought for me as she never wanted to be a mother to begin with, and rather than allow my father to retain custody, she sowed false accusations of abuse and molestation. If you talk to her today, she will tell you that she never did drugs - despite two felony convictions saying otherwise, one of which the ADA threatened me into testifying against her - and that she was and continues to be a wonderful mother. She's woven an entire fantasy around herself, and firmly believes everything that she claims. She's always spun fantastical stories, refused to renege if the lie was spotted, and believes them all.

My father and I have a fairly good relationship. He made allot of sacrifices to stay in my life, and until he got custody of me, never stopped fighting. He dealt with some awful accusations, spent fifteen years paying off the lawyer fees once all was said and done, and tirelessly strived to keep a very stubborn me on the right path. I was pretty messed up and had allot of anger issues when I finally came to live with him. It was really rocky at the time and we fought constantly. I can honestly say that if he hadn't been such a strong influence to keep me out of trouble, I'd have ended up a bitter and violent person. He put so much of his life on hold to pull me out of it.

There are some things we may never see eye to eye on, such as gender roles, gay marriage, and my spouse whom he deeply dislikes, but I accept that. He's a product of his era and his upbringing. I know that despite our disagreements, he really, really loves me and wants nothing more than for me to be happy and successful. I love sharing things with him, especially stories that I know he'd enjoy and I'm always willing to listen to the stories he tells back, even though I've heard them a thousand times before because they make him so happy to share. It's unfortunate that there is a part of my life that I can't share with him, namely my partner, but I have hope that he'll come around eventually.