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I realized I didn't want there to be anything left unsaid with my mom. I didn't want there to be questions that I still had about who she was and what her life was like. And I didn't want her to have questions about me as an adult.

Strange about parents. We have such easy access to them and such daunting problems of communication.

I thought at the time of my parents' divorce that I was upset by deeper, more profound things and I was just taking it out on the joint custody agreement. But that disruption was bad enough. That was a huge deal for a teenager.

Things parents say to children are oftentimes not heard, but in some cases you pick up on things that your parent would like to see you have done.

There are things that you cannot talk to your mother and father about, there are things that you cannot talk to your children about.

My parents were perfectly open-minded about everything. They never tried to convince us of what was true or what wasn't true in their minds. We were just presented with the information that was around and pretty much allowed - though, I mean, we knew how they felt. We knew they didn't go to church. So obviously that had an effect.

There are certain realities we must speak of with our children that were not present when I was a child.

I work with kids, and I see certain things, so I realize now why my mother was so horrified and overprotective of everything that I watched.

It is the uninvolved parent who has to resort to strictness.

My father wasn't allowing me control and the financial freedom that I was asking for. I was 17, about to be 18 within a year, so I started asking more questions because I felt that I needed to start learning about those things.