I didn't have parents, so I lived in people's homes... And because I grew up with no parental role models, I learned to become my own friend, eventually my own father and my own mother.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I became the kind of parent my mother was to me.
After my father died when I was seven and my mother entered into an abusive relationship, I shuffled between houses - staying with friends, families from church, and relying on the kindness of teachers and people throughout my community to help me grow up essentially without parents.
I grew up with just my mom. She and I were like best friends. She's a very independent woman and I admire that about her. In my life, I've tried to be like that. To be okay with being on my own and being independent.
Growing up, my next door neighbor was my best friend and an only child too.
I grew up in a one-parent family. I worked my way through college, I had very average grades and I was very average looking, but I've lived a remarkable life only because I believed I could.
I didn't grow up in a regular upbringing. I ended up at my grandmother's house past a certain age, so I took care of things myself. I moved out of home when I was 16.
I had friends growing up; there were other home-schoolers we were in touch with so we weren't isolated, and I've always been happy engaged in my own projects and pursuing my own goals.
My parents were self-made people, and they were a team.
I grew up as the only child, and we did not have a large family. So for me and my mother, our friends tend to become our family.
When I was young, I grew up in a family of working-class people. Not just my parents, but my extended family, as well.