How were you raised?

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By reading these posts it sounds like a group of hard working people who
were raised with good morals. Unlike the kids of today who think by saying
thank you, excuse me, please, etc is like talking Latin. I believe it's time to
bring back the old days, spankings, groundings and the like were in my time.
This new generation, or most of it, has no respect for anybody.
I'll get off my soapbox now.
Bill
 
I was raised in the same town I live in now, don't ever plan to move. My mom was a liberal, opinionated, passionate (sometimes profane), activist type who had dozens of friends and loved the Three Stooges. She worked for years as a Personal Care Associate but switched to truckdriving when I was about 12. She died in a car accident when I was 21 and I miss her everyday.

My father is much more reserved, serious (phone conversations between the two of us are mostly long pauses and monosyllabic grunts), but in his way more opinionated than anybody I know. He funnels most of his passion into music, he's got 10,000 records easy and maybe 2500 CDs. He's a carpenter (not a "contractor") and while he's the best I know, times have passed him by- a fancy truck and a cellphone are more important than pride in workmanship these days. He's never even put an ad in the paper. The one piece of career advice he ever gave me is, "Whatever you do, don't be a carpenter." But I went on jobs with him from the time I was 10, and never learned another trade, so I guess it didn't take.

I grew up in a drafty 200 year old farmhouse w/ 10 acres. There were always cows, goats, pigs and chickens around- but that kind of self-sufficiency was almost impossible then, so the barn has been unused for 15 years and the pastures are full of poplar and birch now. At least my father can still feed the kitchen woodstove without paying 200+ a cord.

Also spent at least a day a week with my maternal grandparents until I was a teenager. They were almost stereotypical Mainers, and were a big part of forming my personality (such as it is). They were Republicans until becoming disillusioned with "Reaganomics". My grandfather was a belly gunner in the war, a truckdriver for a while, worked in a woolen mill for years, and taught my father all he knew about carpentry. Although politically they were practically opposites, my father and his father in law had nothing but respect for each other. Grampa called my Pa "Rip" (as in Van Winkle) because of his long beard, and called me "Chip" for my pudgy cheeks. Until I was a teenager, I thought my grandfather had written the song "Big Rock Candy Mountain". He kept his Ford pickup trucks immaculate and kept each of them for ten years at least. He gave me a pocketwatch, a handkerchief, and a jackknife when I was 12.

My grandmother worked at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard during the war (legend has it she was the only one with guts enough to paint the crowsnests), worked at the woolen mill with my grandfather after that, and as a lunchlady for the last years of her life. She drove (of all things) a bottle-green VW bug. She made it a point to feed me nothing but marshmallow fluff, potato chips, and Moxie- completely destroying any "good" my mom's ideas about whole grain this and sugarfree that may have done me. They both died of lung cancer within a year of each other when I was about 25.


Whew- that's more than enough typing for now.
 
I had both a mother and father.....a brother 4 years older than me...and another older brother who I did not meet until I was 11.

My parents got a divorce when I was young and then remarried later on but it still was never right...my mom would always find something to complain about.

I grew up in a trailer park.....never really had much......but my dad always wanted to make sure we had it a little better than he did growing up so he would always try to get us the cool toys when he could lol.

my dad was a jack of all trades and did everything automotive,pluming,electrical,construction....you name it.

until after being a deisel mechanic for years and years he was working on an engine and the shop had faulty equipment and the engine dropped on him and broke his back.

I was in the hospital for about the first 4 years of my life....I was born with a the cord around my neck and I had very bad asthma and I had to live in an oxygen tent.

when I was about 12 I had a very bad four wheeler accident ....head on crash with another four wheeler and we were each doing a minimum of 35 miles per hour.....I badly bruised my legs,ripped muscles in my back in half.....and I thumped my head.....I was wearing a helmet but it still rattled me.

from then on I was having problems and doctors used me as a guinea pig with medication for years ....which in turn made things worse and I had a rough couple of years.....(long story).

anyhow.....years later when I started getting better I meant the girl of my dreams....we were together for a year and then split because she wanted to join the marines...... a year later she came back and we talked about things and decided to get back togeather.....a year after that we found out were were having our son.......we have been together 6 years since then and life is great.

I havnt spoke with my mother for about 2 years now.....her and my father decided to get a divorce again and when they did ...she went loopy and did and said alot of unforgivable things and decided pretty much if her ship was going down that everyone else was going down with it.

not exactly a how I was raised story as much as it is a life story lol...sorry if its to long.

wasnt exactly perfect all the time but in the end I have a great family with alot of people who care about me and who I care about too.
 
Here goes:

I was born and raised here in Florida. My parents have been married for 23 years; I am 19 years old.

I was raised by two loving individuals that instilled in me a desire to succeed, be open-minded, and to be self-sufficient. I was never disciplined as you guys were (with the switches and paddles), but I was never considered a "wild child."

I don't smoke nor drink, and have never had a ticket or been in trouble.

I love to spend time with my Grandparents on my father's side (as my mother's are gone). My grandfather has been happily married to my grandmother for 48 years. He tried the whole church thing when he was younger, to fit in with my grandparent's family. But it didn't work out for him. He studied philosophy extensively, and knows the Bible from beginning to end. He and I always discuss religion. My father grew up in church, but "saw the light" as it were, and never used religion as a crutch. I myself have debated with my Grandfather extensively about religion, and have come to the conclusion that it is not for me. I am not religious, my parents aren't, and my grandfather isn't.

I have a younger brother who is still in High School. I graduated in 2009, and have just finished my first year of college. I am majoring in Psychology and hope to get a job with the FBI or CIA. I will soon be joining the Air Force to get experience with Security Forces. I have always loved anything military oriented, and I have tried to train myself to be as disciplined as possible, but because I am a free thinker, it is hard sometimes.

People think I am arrogant and have a large ego. I admit to the ego part, but my "arrogance" is simply confidence in my knowledge and learning. I have studied all of my life, and graduated in the top 10% of my class. I have read many books, and love a good argument, especially concerning religion.

My entire immediate family is comprised of Democrats (go figure, eh SmallBlock). I own guns, and will not give them up (unless I am in the FBI, then I guess I will have to comply). :p

That is about it. My father is also a member of this board, so if any comments are made (as has been in the Political Section) about my up-bringing, expect a fight. This is not the place.
 
I was raised in a Republican/conservative home by two wonderful parents with old-fashioned values that are most often missing in today's society. If I got out of line my dad would whoop my butt with the belt(old school style), I survived, and it was for my own good. There's a big difference between a beating and a spanking, I received a spanking. I was raised and baptized Russian Orthodox, we went to church every week and were taught about Christ, we were not just there to warm the bench. These teachings of the church and my parents have strengthened my character and shaped who I am today. Love the lord God with all your heart, honor, hard work, humility, respect, love, etc. I played outside as a child all day and came home at dusk. I did chores around the house. TV was considered a treat(all 5 channels). My favorite of which was the Saturday morning cartoons of the 70's(A previous thread). My parents certainly had the means to buy me anything I wished for, but that was not the case even though I never went without anything. But most importantly, I was taught the value of money and hard work. If I wanted something I worked for it. When my parents told me something, I did it out of respect. The kids of today have no respect for anyone or anything. For instance the other day a group of kids was walking right down the middle of the road to the point I couldn't pass, they looked at me as if I was in their way, then one of them flipped me off. That's where our world is heading, right down the crapper. I ate at the dinner table with the family, we took trips together, laughed together(you may have noticed my crazy sense of humor), and loved one another. I was very lucky to grow up the way I did and I see that today more than ever. When it came time for college my parents were there to pay for it, but I didn't accept their money, I did it myself on an Academic Merrit Scholarship. I went through college and then the medical academy, etc, etc. I made some incredible investments in the stock market and became extremely wealthy. That was the big turning point in my life when I realized that money begets evil and then made the appropriate changes to be happy. A humble life is much better. I've been blessed with a great christian wife that is truly a gift. I'm teaching my children the ways of Christ and the good old fashioned values the world has lost. My parents are still teaching me to this day and I have always tried to make them proud of me. If I needed anything all I have to do is call. I have learned through my many life experiences that the most important things in life are God and your family. I then shaped my life around that. A few years ago I almost died from a bad gallbladder. This again reaffirmed the importance of God and Family. What person do you know of that asked to see their bank statement or look at their framed degrees one more time before they die? I had mentioned in a previous thread that while an education is important it certainly doesn't guarantee success nor does it define one's character. I work hard everyday, my hands are calloused and sore, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I have given my life to Christ. I let him guide my life, and I can tell you my friends, my life has never been better. That's a little tip from your Uncle MoparMuscleGuy.
Carpe Diem, Christopher
 
I was raised just outside of Detroit (I could throw a rock and it land in the city) by a stay at home Mom and a very hard-working Dad. Dad worked at Chrysler for 38 years at an engine plant (definitely contributed to my Mopar madness.) I am the youngest of 5 kids with several years between myself and the next oldest which meant 1.) I was toughened up quite a bit as 3 of the 4 siblings were "older brothers" and 2.) I was exposed to super cool cars and awesome music from the time I was toddling around. This second point probably had the most impact on who I eventually married (an excellent mechanic who is 10 years my senior, lol.)

We all were raised to respect our parents and other elders and treat people as we would want to be treated. Mom was the disciplinarian but by the time I came along, she was mellowed quite a bit. Three boys will do that to a person I guess. I can remember a "look" that she would give that freaked me the hell out enough to know I need not push a subject any further with her.

Politics and religion were personal matters and my parents gave us the opportunity to make our own decisions regarding both.

Mom and Dad are still alive and well - been married nearly 60 years and continue to provide all the love and support any member of our family could ever ask for.

Although many people speak about Detroit as a good place to be from, I'm both glad and proud to have been born & raised there. Lots of cool auto history, Motown music, boat races, drive-in movies, billiard halls, and a melting pot of Hungarian, Polish, Slovak, Irish, Italian and tons of other nationalities to hang with.
 
MoparGirl said:
I was raised just outside of Detroit (I could throw a rock and it land in the city) by a stay at home Mom and a very hard-working Dad. Dad worked at Chrysler for 38 years at an engine plant (definitely contributed to my Mopar madness.) I am the youngest of 5 kids with several years between myself and the next oldest which meant 1.) I was toughened up quite a bit as 3 of the 4 siblings were "older brothers" and 2.) I was exposed to super cool cars and awesome music from the time I was toddling around. This second point probably had the most impact on who I eventually married (an excellent mechanic who is 10 years my senior, lol.)

We all were raised to respect our parents and other elders and treat people as we would want to be treated. Mom was the disciplinarian but by the time I came along, she was mellowed quite a bit. Three boys will do that to a person I guess. I can remember a "look" that she would give that freaked me the hell out enough to know I need not push a subject any further with her.

Politics and religion were personal matters and my parents gave us the opportunity to make our own decisions regarding both.

Mom and Dad are still alive and well - been married nearly 60 years and continue to provide all the love and support any member of our family could ever ask for.

Although many people speak about Detroit as a good place to be from, I'm both glad and proud to have been born & raised there. Lots of cool auto history, Motown music, boat races, drive-in movies, billiard halls, and a melting pot of Hungarian, Polish, Slovak, Irish, Italian and tons of other nationalities to hang with.
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The Look...usually led to me vacating the area. Mopargirl, amazing that your parents have been married that long.
 
I grew up in a family with two parents. One agnostic in the military(father) and a barely catholic mother that works for the county.

I was raised on real cartoons(the old looney tunes) that seemed to have a lot of adult themes to them. Maybe thats why i'm not shocked by much?

I lived in a normal middle class area and had the luxury of going to school with kids who were obviously taking wrong turns/raised in bad environments(single parent, welfare,etc). Which really helped to show me what i should/should not be doing.

Another thing that helped is that the family on my mom's side is huge(20 some odd people now) so there has been a lot to watch and understand while growing up.
 
Where to start. My dad is an ex marine so he has that up tight personallity, he drove my mom into drugs when I was four, she walked out of my life and I havnt seen her since. Dad kicked the #&%@ out of me and my brother every day till I was 11. Then the state of kansas stepped in, asked my family if anyone would take care of us kids. No one stepped up so we all got placed in foster care. My dad went through an ATV program for agravated assault and changed his ways, When I was 15 I was moved back home and lifes been pretty cool since. Mom still does drugs, my brother and I are the only two people out of 7 to graduate Highschool and I am the only kid that has gone to college. My car is all I have, Its my golden ticket out of this hell hole I call home.
 
After reading all these post I reflect upon this fact. We are all members of the human race. As I see it it's not a "race" it's the brotherhood of mankind. We are all different in looks, religion, upbringing yet we still find a way to become one. Mopars! It's seems strange that not so long ago one would never have thought that total strangers could tell about thier history as openly as we have today at the speed of light. The internet for all that is bad about it does bring us together as a family all our own!

AMEN!
John D. Beckerley
Austin, Texas
 
Fishthatkills said:
It's seems strange that not so long ago one would never have thought that total strangers could tell about thier history as openly as we have today at the speed of light.

AMEN!
John D. Beckerley
Austin, Texas
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and oddly enough, that same technology that allows this openness, is the same technology that can get you kicked out of your house by an angry wife. :toothy10:
 
After reading my story you'll all realize that things were no different north of the border back in the good old days. I come from a family of 2 older brothers and 2 younger sisters. When we were young we were taught in no uncertain terms to respect your elders and their property, work hard all your life, stay the hell out of real trouble (the kind that lands ya in jail) and I think most importantly take responsibility for your actions both good and bad. My father was working the oil rigs when my brothers and me were born then graduated to start up crews for natural gas processing plants all over Alberta and my mother was a stay at home mom essentially raising 5 kids. None of us ever screwed with mom cuss she'd come down on ya like a sack of **** then sick the old man on us with the clothes brush (it was 2 feet long), they're both 75 now and still kicking. We bounced around the province for a few years years till finally settling down in a town just outside Calgary where the old man finally got a long term job with a company that he eventually retired with. Growing up we all had the bare minimum as far as food and clothes and toys, more or less we lead a hand to mouth existence. Both my brothers are engineers and one of my sister is also and the other a technician so we all worked hard and none of have ever been without a job or collected unemployment, something we discovered while resently comparing notes. I started out at age 13 working in a shop on motorcycles and snowmobiles at night and on weekends then after high school at age 17 went to tech school and took a course in aircraft maintenance. Worked in that for a year and realized there's no money in this so went back to tech and took Heavy Duty mechanic and got my first ticket in that. Did some more night schooling and got a Millwright ticket and over time got a degree in Mechanical Engineering. I was finally finished with stinking school at age 35 or 36 but was still working my *** off the whole time mostly to support my loving wife and our 2 kids. The Millwright ticket was the best of all and with paid double overtime 6 figures/year was relatively easy which really pissed off my brothers as they plodded along at 65-70K/year. My father who never had more than a high school diploma always said I'd never make the money of an engineer mostly cuss his father was a drilling engineer so he used that to back his argument. He stopped saying that BS around about when I turned 40. Finished my career off as a specialist and at age 52 said "SCREW IT I QUIT.
 
J4R3D said:
my brother and I are the only two people out of 7 to graduate Highschool and I am the only kid that has gone to college. My car is all I have, Its my golden ticket out of this hell hole I call home.
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Congrats on overcoming the odds by making it through high school and on to college. Here's to a brighter future:cheers:
 
Raised by loving parents. Father was prisoner of war in wwII and when liberated he came back to states and married Mom. Mom and Dad raised myself and 2 sisters to work hard tell the truth and be respectful of everyone. Dad died at 46 due to a lot of issues brought back rom German POW Camp. I think of them everyday, Mom died a couple of years ago at age of 85.
I met my wife in 4th grade. We continued at same school through High School. We graduated in 1965 and were married in 1967. We wil be married 43 years this Sept 02.
We had 2 great Daughters and tried to instill the same values in them as were instilled in me.
I have 1 Granddaughter and is the Light of My Existance.
My Wife and I have 1967 Dodge Dart GT and we are constantly working on this project. Since I have retired she and I are out in the Garage a lot. We took the heads off to do some work, busted valve spring, and she did the passanger side. I am extremely lucky to have a spouse that likes what I do.
God Bless All in FABO Family..
 
Great thread, smallblock!
I am the youngest of 2, my sister is 13 years older. Born and raised in SoCal. Two-parent family in my early years. My dad died of his second heart attack at the age of 44,two months before I turned 8 years old. My dad was an engineer for Union Pacific Railroad up until his death. The heart attack was attributed to both his smoking (unfiltered Camels) and the heavy work stress of the railroad through the WWII years - his job was deemed to be too valuable for the war effort so he wasn't in the military during the war. I remember family vacations were always camping trips because my dad loved to fish. All tent camping with trout for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I remember one trip we took with my grandparents and my grandpa burned the potatoes at breakfast frying them over an open fire - he said they weren't burned, but just bruised because the fire had been so hot that he had to drop them into the frying pan from a few feet up. Took a lot of train trips to Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, and western Wyoming to visit family.
My love of just about all things automotive and racing in particular came from my dad even though I only knew him for a few years. The only cars I remember my dad driving were Hudson Hornets. He bought a new one every two years and paid in cash. I remember his yardstick for mileage was if it could go all the way from SoCal to Las Vegas on one tank of gas. I remember many a car trip with me falling asleep laying on the package tray looking up through that big rear window at all the stars.
My mom had to go to work after he died and my sister came home from college. Money was tight but I never realized it back then. My grandparents lived in a little house next door and my aunt and 2 cousins lived next door to them so there was always a strong family unit. I remember my mom using a wooden hangar on my backside when she felt I needed it. I also remember her switching to wire hangars when she got tired of breaking the wooden ones.
We went to church without question every Sunday. I was taught American values from the very first day I remember. Both my dads and moms family originally emigrated to America from England in the 1830s for religious reasons. My dads family was driven out of Illinois by religious persecution and were part of the first wagon train across the plains into the Salt Lake valley. We went to church without question every Sunday.
We knew every family on both sides of the street for the entire block and if you did something wrong you knew somebody would let your parents know about it. I was raised to respect my elders, my teachers, and my friends parents, and that manners were everything. We said 'please' and 'thank you', and a male always walks on the street side to protect your girlfriend, sister, mother, aunt, grandmother, or whatever female you may be walking with from any potential danger from the street. Oh yeah, you also opened any door for any female no matter if you knew them or not. If an adult told you to do something, you better do it.
There was no question about going to school everyday and getting your schoolwork done before you went out to play or do something you wanted to do.
My mom went to work for the local school district when I was 10 so I knew I couldn't fool around at school because she'd find out about it before I even got home. In fact, she was working in the attendance office at my high school the entire time I was there.
My mom re-married when I was 11 and, of course, things changed a bit. My stepfather was from Orange County and we used to visit his dad at the old family home that had once been part of their orange ranch. I remember family BBQ's in the back yard there - all the kids would go running around playing in the orange groves.
Sure was a much better, simpler time back then. I wish my kids could have experienced what SoCal was like back then - I graduated from high school in '66, right in the middle of the best music ever and the beginning of the musclecar era. It was a great time to be young!!!
I guess that's why I've never grown up.
 
WOW! This is an incredible thread! Great stories all and thank you all for sharing and thank you smallblock for starting this. I'll be sure to add my story soon.

Edit: It's amazing some of the similarities I see between my fellow members and I. It seems that we all share some experiences that made us what we are and in the long run, brought us all together.
 
The youngest of 10 kids in a Catholic family,thought we were raised pretty well, taught what was right from wrong if you did something bad enough you got the "belt" from my dad,and believe me after you got the "belt" what ever it was you did,you didn't do it again..i'm a firm believer in spanking,have to laugh when i hear parents giving "timeouts"..pleaseeee.....
 
About 5 miles south of Baker City Oregon. A small ranch, Its where my house and shop is now. We lived in a 2 bed room home sted with my grandma, so with 4 of us kids it made 7 of us in that house. When i was 5 my dad started building our new house, It took about 3 years. So in the mean time all of us lived in my grandmas house. No running water, so it was out back to the out house when you had to GO. Heat was the old kitchen wood stove, and hot water was made when you keep water in the tank that was hooked to the stove. Baths were done in a portable tub in the kitchen floor once a week. Pack water to the house and add more hot water between kids. Hunting and fishing was done all the time,You had a gun or fishing pole if your work was done.Fore me after bicycles was motorcycles then came my first CAR. In 1971, It was a 1970 duster 340 3 speed. Got me in a lot of trouble. So that is y i am building my duster that i am working on now.
 
Born in Salem, Mass in 1963. 3rd oldest out of 7 children, Mom and Dad were both old school in their thinking and parenting, but unfortunatley my Father was a active alcoholic. He worked in a factory building conveyors and I have vivid memories of him coming home and drinking a pint of Fleishman's whiskey every night. He would get very violent when he drank and would send all of us kids to bed, sometimes after a beating. I remember him beating up on my Mom and many late night trips (unannounced) load all of us kids into the Chevy Wagon and head up to Kennebunkport. Maine. He would reach over and press his foot down on top of my Moms foot on the accelerator and she would hang on and drive the car up the highway at 80 -100 mph.This was back in the early
70's and there was not much we could do and we all feared him. Anyway, he was extremely violent in nature when he drank, and even cut our dog's throat in the bathtub one night. He got sick in 1973 and was admittted to the hospital in Dec. 73' and died on Jan 5th 1974 from liver failure. he was 44 yrs old.
After his death it was very hard for my Mom to raise 6 kids by herself. My oldest brother had already moved out on his own and it was six boys and one girl. and we were all still young My older brother was 12 and I was 11 yrs old. So we went on with our lives and moved to Salem, Mass from Lynn, Mass. We were forced to move into low income housing as my Mom didn't have a lot of money. I started attending the Salem School System and soon found out that I was an outcast because there were one half of the school population from well to do homes and the other half lived on the "poor" side of town. The taunts soon started of Food Stamps Jr. and I was picked on quite a lot and soon hated going to school.I was very shy and quiet and the taunts were merciless. I was in the 5th grade and hated every minute of school, but I also had to be a "father" figure to my little brothers. My Mom had to get a part time jobto help pay bills. It was a new experience without my father and was a quick way of growing up, I soon found this to be the truth.
In 1975 on Jan 19th, my younger brother Bruce (who was 5 yrs old at the time) was really sick so my Mom took him to the doctor and prescribed medicine for him and sent him home. I remember so clearly, It was a Friday night and he was too sick to eat so he took his meds and went to bed. the following morning, me and my Brother were awakened by my little Brother who shared the bedroom with him that Bruce would not wake up. I remember going into the bedroom and seeing my Brother's eyes half open and he had his right hand partially raised but he would not wake up. We went and woke up Mom who went into the bedroom and immeadiatly took him to the kitchen table and tried to breathe life into him. I will always remember that when she took her hand off his face from holding his mouth open you could see the hand print of her hands on his face. The ambulance arrived and he was brought to Salem Hospital and was DOA. That morning every one else in our house started getting sick and ended up in the Hospital. After the autopsy it was revealed that he had Spinal meningitis and that was what caused his death. This hit me really hard, even more so then my father's death. But I was growing up fast. I was too sick to attend my brothers funeral and the thing I found out later from my only friend who is still very close to me after all these years, that the principal of the Elementary School would not let my best friend attend the funeral, but took all of the kids from my class that were taunting me and my family and put them all on a bus and they went to my little brothers funeral. Well, after about 2 1/2 weeks, when I and my brothers and Sister returned to school, a funny thing happened..... these same children who were making fun of me and my family were no longer making fun of my family, well that was a very big turning point in my early years and even though we moved away from that city the next year, we all kind of looked at life a lot differently. My Mom continued to raise us and we all turned out to be good Christian adults. Well
I could go on from here but it was really very hard and also very painful childhood personally for me. I have tried to instill the virtues of God into my children's lives and remind them to not take anything for granted because God is the one who ultimatley can and will decide.
 
irelandmoss said:
By reading these posts it sounds like a group of hard working people who
were raised with good morals. Unlike the kids of today who think by saying
thank you, excuse me, please, etc is like talking Latin. I believe it's time to
bring back the old days, spankings, groundings and the like were in my time.
This new generation, or most of it, has no respect for anybody.
I'll get off my soapbox now.
Bill
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Bill, I agree and I am worried about our next generation
I see young gun's driving new auto's and have a big cell phone bill and don't work or even go to school, Things sure are changing :angry7: Not that I have ever went to school much
 
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