Chapter 2: About My Parents

What can I say except that they are the greatest parents in the world! (OK, I’m a bit biased but who can blame me?) Unlike most teenagers and young adults I can honestly claim that the two closest friends in my life are my mom and dad. I share everything - and I mean everything - with them. They raised me in accordance with their strong religious and moral values which emphasize respecting other people and cultures while taking full responsibility for my own actions.

As essential as these things were, perhaps just as important is what they did NOT teach me - silly taboos and any sense of moral superiority.

Over the years my parent’s love for one another has matured from a teenage infatuation to a solid relationship built on a foundation of genuine affection and admiration for the other. I respect them not only for how they love one another but how they treat others as well, always holding themselves to the highest moral and ethical standards.

My parents believe strongly in their wedding vows and they have always been faithful to each other. They don’t swing, date other people, or anything like that. They do have a deep sense of family unity which they have in turn passed on to me.

I believe with all my heart that other than my personal relationship with my God and Savior, my family relationships are the strongest and most important elements in my life. A family is more than just a husband, wife and children; it includes their immediate relatives as well - parents, cousins, aunts and uncles.

The ramifications of this philosophy go far beyond determining who organizes the next family reunion. I believe that the members of a family have an inherent responsibility to one another no matter what happens - to love one another, to be a friend and confidante, to be unselfish in times of need, and also in areas of sexuality as well.