If I'm Confirmed I'll Be Myself.

I Know That Some Poor Immigrants From That Era Had Unrealistic Expectations And Were Disappointed, But I Don't Think My Grandparents Were Disappointed At All, Even Though They Experienced Some Very Hard Times During The Great Depression.

My Parents Grew Up In Poor Families Where Little English Was Spoken, They Both Went To College And Became Teachers. They Believed That Anything Was Possible With Hard Work, And They Particularly Stressed The Importance Of Education. They Instilled That Same Belief In My Sister And Me.

As I Mentioned, Things Were Particularly Hard During The Depression. My Paternal Grandfather Was Frequently Out Of Work, And The Family Was Evicted From Their Home.

My Mother Is A First Generation American. Her Father Worked In The Roebling Steel Mill In Trenton, New Jersey.and Yet My Mother Became The First Person In Her Family To Get A College Degree.

I Know From My Own Experience As A Parent That Parents Probably Teach Most Powerfully Not Through Their Words But Through Their Deeds. And My Parents Taught Me Through The Stories Of Their Lives. And I Don't Take Any Credit For The Things That They Did Or The Things That They Experienced, But They Made A Great Impression On Me.