Dad: That his political views are not everyine’s political views and just because you don’t think/believe as he does, you’re not wrong! He is why I don’t like to discuss politics. Also, asking why I didn’t get a 100% on a test instead of the 99% that I did get was very discouraging. (That’s one example. There are others.) He meant to give me an “I’ll show you and I’ll get a 100%” attitude. All it did was tell me that no matter what I did, no matter how hard I tried, it wouldn’t be good enough. He didn’t understand that encouragement would go much farther with me than poking and annoying.
Mom: Not all boys/men are “out for just one thing.” She really believed that men and women couldn’t be friends. I have some good male friends that I have no interest in sexually, and I’m pretty sure that they’re not interested in me. Not being a mind reader I can’t be completely sure. Also, knowing about some of the trauma that happened to her when she was in her late teens would have gone a long way to understanding her better. Not knowing until after she had died didn’t do either of us any good. I wish she had understood that, and that, in my early 20’s, I was old enough to hear it.