My family and My Personality

My mother and I have done a lot of genealogy work on her side of the family.  It is amazing to see how your family was shaped and all they have gone through! My family from generations before me was not royalty or famous in any other way. They were people looking for a better way of life than what they had at the moment.  I believe they all had dreams, wants and desires, just like we do today. Theirs seem simple to us but in their time, it was a dream.

Hearing stories from my mother(that's her above) and father about their childhood and their parents childhood gives me a sense of who I am. My grandfather on my mothers side worked in a steel pipe yard.  He was cutting pipe when he cut off his ring finger on his left hand. My grandfather took care of all the money and the driving. My grandmother did not know how to drive nor how to balance a check book. Needless to say, my mother grew up the same way.  She married at 19 and she new nothing of finances, but she did drive. My father was in the military so my mother was very "comfortable" in her life. Things changed when my parents divorced. My mother not having any kind of education, never worked before and having 3 children was extremely frightening to her.  My mother never thought something like this would ever happen to her family.
 My Father's Father was a very hard working man and made my dad an his sisters work in cotton fields from a very young age. I have a very strong work ethic. I feel that even though my dad complained about what his father did to him, it helped him. My Dad worked hard at his job to achieve some of his goals.  I have worked since I was 16 and most times having two jobs at once.  I am not so good with finances like my mother and grandmother, another thing I have to work on.
 I am the first generation to attend College.  College was never mentioned in my mothers or fathers household growing up. My parents never said anything about College when I was growing up.
Growing up my mother always did what her dad said, never questioned anything and did average in school. My dad was more like a typical boy who was curious about everything.
Growing up for me and my two bothers was no fun. My dad was very mean.  He treated us like his father treated him. My dad was verbally abusive to us kids. He was always tell us how we would never amount to anything but ditch diggers. We were afraid of my dad growing up. None of us kids talk with him any more.  I think my mom was too.
My personality is a mix of my parents, their parents and my own will to change things for my own children. I am strong willed when I truly believe in something.  I will always stand tall for my freedom and my family. Being a military brat, God and Country come really easy! I enjoy challenges and I am willing to try anything once! I love learning new things about everything around me! The outdoors is something I hold dear and have passed that on to my own children.  Its important they understand nature and how to make quick, smart decisions.

.(This is my mother, me and my two girls.  

Lorna is graduating from high school.)

 I want my kids to see life a different way and not like I did or how their grandparents did. I think my family history and my own parents have shown me through example of how not to treat my kids. I started my children going to College Summer Programs so they know what College is and that it can be fun.
I hope I have broken that link that seemed to follow my father's side of the family. Mine and my mothers low self esteem, I don't want that to become any ones personality!
 My personality is a little of my greatgreatgreatgrandparents all the way to my parents. I hope I have kept the best ones and not so much of the "bad" ones. Every one's family molds them, its how we use it that matters.