A Homage to parents

I think that the first people that influences anyone are parents.  My father was second cousin to my mother, and he was not a local man.  He came from Rutherglen and she came from Dunfermline. I am not sure about how they met, but I do know that he was working with an engineering company laying pipes in Dunfermline and he gave up that job and moved from Rutherglen to be with her.  I think that sort of thing was not common in those days.

Mum was a twin.  She and dad married and two years later, I came along. Four years after that, so did my brother.

They brought us up to go to the North Congregational church.  The best I can say is that the church taught bible stories and that was a major help when it came to being converted. It gave me a good biblical background and without my parents I would not have had that.

They were honest very moral people.  They taught me right from wrong. For that I am very grateful.  When you really think about it a lot of what all of us have come from parents. We get their genes and when you get up in the morning and put your clothes on it is usually mothers who teach children how to dress themselves.  I thought of that one morning when I was getting dressed.

I do not think they understood everything I did, but they accepted it.  Neither of them went to University or had any academic qualifications so when I went to University, they were pleased, but it was all a mystery to them.

I think they made major sacrafices when my grandfather ( My mothers father) and my aunt, ( Mums twin Sister) came to live with us.  Dad must have agreed to this and in the procees took on a lot.  I think that in doing so he was very loyal to my mother.

He worked long hours in a textile factory and we lived in walking distance of the factory.  The factory was his life.  He worked all day and came home and watched TV.  the only time my parents went out together was to church.

Thus, our lives as  a family were simple, or complicated depending on what way you look at it.

My parents did their best for my brother and I with what they had. That is a major part of how I have become the man I am today.