There must be someone.....

[kevvome]

not as hard a question as I thought.
My dad, Alive. My dads Father, Dead.
My first Mother in law, still alive.
My kids

Unusual for a couple of reasons Six. 1/ I think to have your Dad's Dad as an influence is rare. It is invariably the maternal granddad that helps you along, nice to see you know different. 2/ Your ex Mum in law! Hell I wouldn't have gave mine a push down a slide, and vice versa.
Nice choice though Six.

Yes, MIL1 was and is a fine person. You would need to know a lot more about me than I am inclined to type in here to understand, but she taught me there was a better world than the world I came from, very valuable lessons.
I would like to add both of my grandmothers, very different people form each other, but both taught me a lot. Old people in general, at least from the perspective of my generation have a lot to teach us about the world, how things were done, how life was lived etc. Its the last of an old fashioned world, even in the agricultural world, then it was small farms, now it is Huge agribusiness complexes, a way of life gone.
I kind of draw a line between that world and the one we live in now with all the technology, social media and "Conviniences". A better world now? maybe in some ways, but look around, a lot of this new world sux. There was no need in this country for its citizens to feel the need to go about armed like we do now in so many places. Medical care didn't mean giving up your life savings, kids said Yes Sir and Yes Ma'am and didn't run around with their pants hanging off their ass.

Riveting stuff mate. For once I can't pick on anything to disagree on. I absolutely know what you mean when you say we can learn from our grandparents. Hell yeah. What kid hasn't listened to his grandma's/grandpa's stories of ''the olden days''? My grandma used to tell me about hers when I was a tiny kid and I was so engrossed in her stories that I forgot all sense of time and place, except the time and place in her stories. There was indeed respect in those times. I could only love and admire the words of wisdom I was hearing from my grandma (my MATERNAL grandpa I hasten to add). It made me want to emulate them, to strive to live a good life. Of course, when I got older I was a wild kid. Lived everything by my rules and hated authority. But that had more to do with a Dad that hated me, even as a kid of ten years old he hated me. A drunk, a wife beater, a gambler. I was the oldest kid and the only one he picked on. Years later my Mum said it was because I reminded him too much of himself. She was right I believe. I swore I would never be cruel to any kid of mine when I got older, and that I would be the opposite of my father. I kept that promise from the day my son was born., And yeah, today's world is a crazy world, no wonder why we have such crazy people. But more than crazy, it's dangerous. I despair for our kids future Six. I despair for us all. Before modern technology we had employment for everyone (if you wanted it) but as each decade has passed by we have replaced men and women with a micro chip. No jobs, no hope, no future. One thing is for certain....things will get worse. I just hope I'm not around to see it when it does. I mean that.