Parents
(page 4)
Let parents bequeath to their children not riches, but the spirit of reverence.
The relation between parents and children is essentially based on teaching.
The most important thing that parents can teach their children is how to get along without them.
I have frequently gained my first real insight into the character of parents by studying their children.
When everyone at school is speaking one language, and a lot of your classmates' parents also speak it, and you go home and see that your community is different -there is a sense of shame attached to that. It really takes growing up to treasure the specialness of being different.
Parents were invented to make children happy by giving them something to ignore.
You know, my parents have always been incredibly supportive. I'm an only child, so we're very close. There's just the three of us. They're exceptional parents but also great friends. My father was able to take his hobby, photography, and turn it into a beautiful career. So when they saw how much I loved acting, they were 100 percent behind me.
Teenagers talk about the idea of having each other's 'full attention'. They grew up in a culture of distraction. They remember their parents were on cell phones when they were pushed on swings as toddlers. Now, their parents text at the dinner table and don't look up from their BlackBerry when they come for end-of-school day pickup.
I grew up seeing my parents perform and sing, and I just always wanted to be singing, too. Music has always been my deepest passion and what I felt most connected to.
Anytime I meet people who got to make the deliberate choice, whose parents chose Canada, I'm jealous. Because I think being able to choose it, rather than being Canadian by default, is an amazing statement of attachment to Canada.
People are very much worried that our kids are not going to inherit the same opportunities that we inherited from our parents.
Dad needs to show an incredible amount of respect and humor and friendship toward his mate so the kids understand their parents are sexy, they're fun, they do things together, they're best friends. Kids learn by example. If I respect Mom, they're going to respect Mom.
I had to get over a Southern accent and go through a lot of obstacles. But I love my job, and I love what I do. If it's something that your parents are pushing you into, it's never going to be rewarding.
Those who do not cherish affection for their parents, spouses and children and for their homes, villages and workplaces cannot love their country and fellow people; they can never become genuine patriots.
After high school, I was going to move out to L.A. and try to pursue my dreams of acting. My parents said, 'That's fine. We support you, but you have to go to school', which was fine because I'm a studious person anyway; I enjoy it.
Karaoke was my family's happy secret. In those early years in America, like many immigrants, my parents struggled with poverty and loneliness, but they also built provisional families, and inside our bubble there was joy, understanding, an intimate language I could never translate — and above all there was song.
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