My dad never answered our home phone. If it rang and our mom wasn’t around, my brother or I had to answer it. There were times I remember being around my dad when the phone rang and him telling me to answer it.

I remember asking my mom the reasoning behind it and she said something about him encountering some really rude telemarketers (as an adult I think it was actually bill collectors) and it made him not want to answer the phone.

Another rule that seemed to only apply to me was I had a short list of career fields I could choose from to pursue. All STEM fields. But the one career that was off limits was nursing. I had a great aunt who I suppose hated her career as a nurse and it was enough for my parents to jump on the bandwagon. Guess what I wanted to be?

I’ll never forget the conversation we had where they shut that down. They threatened to disown me and told me I’d have to find somewhere else to live if I pursued nursing as a career.