They all disowned their parents long ago, the way you are supposed to

My parents are like younger, urchinlike brothers and sisters whose faces are dirty and who blurt out humiliating things that can neither be anticipated nor controlled. I sigh and make the best of it. I feel I’m older than they are, much older. I feel ancient.

No mother is ever, completely, a child's idea of what a mother should be, and I suppose it works the other way around as well. But despite everything, we didn't do too badly by one another, we did as well as most.

If you're put on a pedestal, you're supposed to behave yourself like a pedestal type of person. Pedestals actually have a limited circumference. Not much room to move around.

What am I supposed to do, jump up and down and whine? If this were 15 years ago, I'd be bemoaning my fate. But I'm in my late 50's, and the realities of life have shown themselves clearly to me.

This is not going to go away. We?re going to learn from it and make it better. When parents and teachers work together, it?s a good signal to the student that says they (teachers and parents) are willing to work for me.