I’ve made no secret that my relationship with my parents is a little difficult at times. I genuinely love them dearly, but they’re not perfect parents; which is fine, because I am far from the perfect child. However, there’s no denying the fact that the language barrier between us makes things difficult at times, and sometimes I feel like I might not have the same types of relationships with my parents as those around me might, simply because of culture differences and communication woes.
That being said, throughout my life, I’ve always done my best to endear myself to the parents of my friends. It’s important to me, that to those people who are important to me, that I can make a good impression on their parents, because I know that in most cases, their parents are important to them. What’s important to them, is important to me. Did I say important enough in this paragraph?
Anyway, along the way, I’ve been privileged to develop relationships with the parents of many friends in my life. And to no disrespect to my own parents, but in a way it’s like I’m picking up other moms and dads along the way, who kind of in their own way, fill niche voids, and sometimes do their best impressions of having parented me, when my own parents couldn’t. I’m not saying I’ve ever been disciplined or overly lectured by any of these surrogate parents, but mostly it’s in regards to simple hospitality, advice, or just observing on how they conduct themselves, treat their children, my friends, that I feel like I learn, and in some way become shaped as a person myself.
