I would ask my dad what he did, and he'd say, 'I listen to people's problems.' In some way what he did for a living is in my genes.
The most challenging part of being a dad is self-restraint. So often your instinct is to teach and tell. I am constantly reminding myself to listen to them.
Parents don't understand kids and kids don't understand parents. My parents were divorced when I was really young and I went to live with my dad.
I've dated all kinds of guys and didn't know who I'd end up with. But I kind of assumed it would be someone more like my dad than not.
My dad was an assembly line worker at AC Spark Plug, which was a division of General Motors, and his job was to build and then inspect the little spark plugs as they came off the line.
My dad is a Jack Nicholson lookalike and a frustrated performer, my mother's into reading and poetry. I suppose the thing I owe them most is my confidence.
I know it was harder for me taking care of my dad during his cancer than it was going through my own. You feel more helpless as a caregiver.
Think about finding out when you're 13 that your dad is not your dad. It's like, okay, take it on the chin and keep going. No choice, really.
My dad was a very violent, frightening and dangerous guy. Next to him, I was this vague kind of kid who walked around, as I still do, gathering impressions.
Mum doesn't like it when I mention that Dad's a better cook than her. He was born in Spain and spent eight years in Portugal and is exceptional at lots of cuisines.
I wanted my children to have the same exposure to the water I had. My strongest memories of Northeast Harbor are going in a small Whaler with my dad, looking for osprey.
My mom raised me with the idea of doing public service, and I definitely want to go in that direction. But I also want to follow in my dad's entrepreneurial footsteps.
My dad wasn't the biggest role model, but he was a great musician and I loved him very much. He was a character.
Being the son of a father who works so hard, I always wanted to be able take a lot of load off of my dad so he can just relax.
My dad wanted me to go down a more academic route. He is very much about sticking to the rule book and sticking to the blueprint of a successful career.
My dad sent Frank Sinatra a dollar bill to autograph, and when it came back, signed, he had it framed: it was always up on the wall in whatever flat we were in.
My parents met in the theatre, and I thought that was so romantic. My dad was a scenic designer and my mom was a dancer, and that's how they met; they met in the theatre.
My dad is a writer, and to see him always in front of a typewriter gave me the inspiration to write. He was my idol, my hero. I wanted to be just like him.
I don't know, I just want to be happy. I could be in a hole somewhere. Or I could completely lose it and be some hippy living in the woods with my dad.
My dad actually taught me how to do the catwalk because he used to do modeling. He taught me how to do that little swivel at the end.
I was always embarrassed because my dad wore a suit and my mother wore flat pumps and a cozy jumper while my friends' parents were punks or hippies.
