My Father has always been a hard worker and when he wants something he works hard for it. However, I have not always picked that up. I am not as ambitious as he is, but at the same time when I really want something or believe in something, I work hard at it.

My Father taught me how to communicate with people. He taught me that the most important thing in life is to be as honest and trustworthy as humanly possible. It is through this lesson that I have been able to live my life with as much fairness to others as possible. Yes, sometimes I deviate from it, but when dealing with the public and with many, if not all my friends, I have always been straight up and honest. I have been brought up with the ideology that being honest creates a reputation that people believe in.

My mother: "Growing up means learning that you can't have everything you want."

My dad was nice to everyone. He made friends from the window washers, janitors to the commissioners and everyone in between. He would get invited into their offices for coffee, folks would give him stuff just for the asking.

Never look down on anyone for their job - it's just a job - it's the person behind the job that is what counts.

My dad taught me that it's not where you go, but it's how you get there. Also, why make a new wheel if you can copy and improve one?

My mom taught us table etiquette and how to be polite and nice to others, basically how you present yourself to other people.

My parents taught me how to survive - by trying to kill my soul. I was abused through out my entire childhood. I don't know who I've been without them but I don't grief the person I've become either.

Learning how to save money and always be prepared for that rainy day. Growing up, my mother seemed like the cheapest person to ever exist. But looking back, she was a single mom making due with much less than I understood, and I was a brat who had no concept of why we couldn't spend money. The constant concern/nagging over money put a bit of a strain on our relationship for a while, but in today's current climate, I have never been more happy she taught me how to live on nothing. It paid off in the past too, letting me live abroad without a job far longer than I really should have been able to.

I, like other posters to this thread, didn't learn what to do or how to live from my parents. I learned what NOT to do. Don't be an abusive drunk. Don't lie to my kids constantly. Don't do cocaine or marijuana. Don't accidentaly shoot guns in the apartment and blow holes in the concrete walls. Don't take so many sleeping pills that you fall over and break two VCR's. Don't run off and have kids with other people, then deny it, then move in with that other person and stop calling your first (well, technically, second) child. Don't promise you'll be home then not come...on Christmas. Don't support a man who steps on your throat when he's angry. Don't beat your kid so bad on the boardwalk that people threaten to call the cops. And many other great lessons on what NOT to do as an adult.