# Name something awesome your folks did for you **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 7, 2012, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-something-awesome-your-folks-did-for-you/634029 "2012-09-07T20:05:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-something-awesome-your-folks-did-for-you/634029/61 "2012-09-10T21:45:27Z")
So I had just started high school and met some new friends, one of which worked at the local library. Having been taught the value of a dollar from my parents, I decided I wanted a job for some extra spending money and to be more responsible. I got hired on at the library and was all set! Except that I lived on a farm. And was too young for my license. And so, several times a week, my mom would leave work to pick me up after school, drop me off at work and pick me back up at 9pm. She later said she probably spent more money on gas and shopping to keep herself occupied in the city (sometimes she didn’t go through the hassle of driving all the way back home) than I made from my little job. But it still means a lot to me that she spent time and money to teach me a life lesson and so I could feel proud of myself for having a job and getting my own spending money. ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-something-awesome-your-folks-did-for-you/634029/62 "2012-09-10T22:27:49Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > My dad got me a ride in a P-51 Mustang piloted by WW II ace Bob Hoover. That is awesome. ---
**Author:** ![scootergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@scootergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scootergirl)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-something-awesome-your-folks-did-for-you/634029/63 "2012-09-11T03:54:47Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > As an infant, my siblings and I were removed from our home and temporarily placed with different families due to neglect and abuse. Eventually the other kids were returned, but the couple who got me said “no way”. I had bedsores and injuries and they weren’t about to let me return to that environment. Bio mom was mentally ill, single with 4 kids, and just not doing well in 1960’s Detroit. > > They fought for me, adopted me, and gave me a nice mid-western upper-middle class childhood with more honor and integrity than a Marine DI, and there are a thousand different little things that each one did to make my life easier or fun. > > I certainly can’t claim a perfect childhood, but the problems and the bad parts fade after time, and leave you with the good. They both passed away in 1999, before I got around to telling them thanks for all that. > > I have something in my eye now. Me too, salty tears. Your memories are bitter sweet. I just read every response and could feel the lump in my throat getting bigger and bigger. Your post is the one that had me reaching for the box of tissues. Glad things turned out OK for you. Thanks for sharing. ---
**Author:** ![fubbleskag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fubbleskag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fubbleskag)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-something-awesome-your-folks-did-for-you/634029/64 "2012-09-11T12:31:12Z")
I had to stop reading this thread after about 20 posts because I was getting choked up. I guess I’m a sentimental old fool well before my time. My mother never knew her father until I was about 12 and was only able to get to know him a little bit before he died a few years later; he was by no means rich, but had put aside a little cash for her and her two siblings - she used about 90% of her portion to pay off my student loan for me, which was about 2/3 of her annual net income. I’ve never felt I’ve been able to properly thank her for that. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-something-awesome-your-folks-did-for-you/634029/65 "2012-09-11T14:02:18Z")
Money was always tight in my family and my parents weren’t afraid to say “that’s not in the budget.” So I generally didn’t get my hopes up with respect to expensive or trendy purchases. In late middle school, my parents bought me prescription sunglasses, which was already pretty cool of them, but they let me get **Ray-Ban Wayfarers** , which were THE sunglasses you had to have, and expensive. It may not surprise anyone here that when I was 13 I was a ultra awkward dork… but with those shades OMG I was the coolest. I was very careful and responsible with them, and may even still have them buried in a drawer at my parents’. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-something-awesome-your-folks-did-for-you/634029/66 "2012-09-12T08:01:46Z")
My step-father put me thru college. Shocked the hell out of me. He loaned me the money to get a divorce. When I’d paid back half he said “You’ve shown me you honor your debts. You don’t have to give pay me any more.” (He did _not_ give away money.) I still feel bad about running over his foot with the tractor. ---
**Author:** ![bartleby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bartleby/32/10491_2.png) [@bartleby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bartleby)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-something-awesome-your-folks-did-for-you/634029/67 "2012-09-12T17:37:06Z")
Damn! all this great stuff… i’m a horrible parent… -sigh- [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-something-awesome-your-folks-did-for-you/634029.md?page=3)