OT Poch
There is only one reason for my success. I was scared shitless of my old man during my teen years. If he had not been around during that time period, I doubt that I would have ever considered college, much less a doctorate. He was forced to drop out of school at age 14 because his father lost his sight in an accident. He had to provide for his family working the oil patch. After he got his brother and sister raised and four years duty with Uncle Sam, he decided to raise another family. Luckily enough, I was part of his family. The man taught me that life was about choices and completing tasks that I undertook. He did not believe in shortcuts and the word "excuse" was not in his vocabulary or the family dictionary. I made that man proud because i believed in him and trusted his judgment. I always felt safe under his roof.
I was luckier than kids today. I did not have some school counselor telling me to call 911 if the old man yelled at me for being a slacker or kicked my ass for being reckless and breaking some windows. I did not have some DARE program moderator telling me that my parents were drug addicts because they drank coffee every morning. I did not have a set of parents talking about hating the president of the USA every night. I had a guy that looked at every piece of homework before I turned it in even though in my later years in highschool he was learning the subject matter with me. I had a guy who encouraged me as hard as he berated me if I was not giving a task my best.
He told me not to be confused with discussions about rights. He said that until I reached 21 years of age, and he emphasized that it was his duty to get me there, the only rights I would see from him would be in a boxing ring if I felt like taking over his house. It was a very simple environment. He set the parameters and we stayed within them as best we could.
All that being said, what stood out the most at our house was the love and the laughter. We all had our run ins with the old man, but they were insignificant compared to the good times. He raised young men who were achieving more success and awards than the other kids in the neighborhood. Sure we were tempted to join the others taking glue, but somehow the old man was always around when the opportunity to stray reared its ugly head. We all knew he loved us, but we feared him just the same. We also knew that his rules were simple, reasonable and easy to follow unless you felt froggy which was not often around his house. He taught us a set of values that were worth more than the education levels we achieved. He got plenty of compliments concerning the behavior of his children because he earned them.
MO
loop
AI
