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From: barryg@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Lee Gold)
Newsgroups: net.women
Subject: Re: Good ol' Mom
Message-ID: <2334@sdcrdcf.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 11-Sep-85 22:26:55 EDT
Article-I.D.: sdcrdcf.2334
Posted: Wed Sep 11 22:26:55 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 17-Sep-85 05:27:16 EDT
References: <520@osiris.UUCP>
Reply-To: barryg@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Lee Gold)
Distribution: net
Organization: System Development Corp. R+D, Santa Monica
Lines: 27
Summary: 

My relations with my mother are fairly close.  We talk two or three times
a week on the phone and see each other every week or so.  We also sometimes
trade books to read (I turned her on to reading science fiction).
However, I don't think I modeled myself on her particularly.  She's a
sweet, intelligent lady but I grew up noticing that whenever she and
father disagreed, we did things his way.  And I prefer winning to being
sweet.

My father and I don't get on at all well.  For years I just assumed he
hated me.  In my early 20s I found out I looked just like his mother who
died when he was in his teens.  He never implied he disliked me because I
was a woman; it was because I was as opinionated and outspoken as he was.

Neither of them ever behaved dishonorably to me.  I grew up expecting that
everyone would be truthful and keep their promises and was surprised to
run into adults for whom this wasn't true.  Both my parents stressed that
as a woman I was free to take either the traditional male or traditional
female role--or hack out my own.  I ended up working part time, wearing
dresses rather than slacks, and having a husband who does the cooking--a
compromise path, I suppose.

My husband's family doesn't understand me particularly.  But then they
don't understand him either.  They brought up their own daughter to be
cutely dependent--and they're still helping  support her now that she's 36.
They do tell me I'm their second daughter.  *sigh*

--Lee Gold