Conference turris::womannotes-v3

    Since I brought it up, I'll go first:
    
    Mother: Bonnie Reinke 8-)
    Father: Alan Alda
    Sister: Eleanor Roosevelt
    Brother: Paul Newman
         
    At least on first thought.
    Subject to whimsical change, thank goodness!
    
    Karen

    mother: Donna Carroll
    father: Michael Carroll
    brother: Daniel Carroll
    sister: Annie Lennox
    
    Guess I got my wish!  (Except I don't have a sister.  :-)
    
    D!

	Can't think of any change to parents. I have a brother is Seattle
	that I'd trade for almost anyone though. :-) Actually I would have
	loved to have had me for a brother.

			Alfred

<	Can't think of any change to parents. I have a brother is Seattle
<	that I'd trade for almost anyone though. :-) Actually I would have
<	loved to have had me for a brother.
<
<			Alfred

    Well, I've got this brother in Colorado Springs, maybe we can work
    something out?? liesl

    I would choose my 21 year old daughter to be my mother and her husband,
    my son-in-law, to be my father.  They are the greatest parents I
    know!  (Sure wish I had been that good.)  I'd still choose my grandma
    to be my grandma, and maybe choose someone like Socrates or Abe
    Lincoln or maybe even Mark Twain to be my grandpa (someone of
    reasonable wisdom and/or humor).
        
    :)Not a bad choice, really...
    Barb 

    I cannot think of anyone "worth" enough to replace my mother...I wish
    she could still be with us, (died many years ago) my Dad is still
    living and cannot be replaced either! Nothing in the world would make
    me change them... not even in make believe!
    
    When I look into my dog's eyes.... I'd like to know what "she is
    thinking" at the moment... that I'd like to see and probably be able to
    exchange some opinions with her! she's so warm and expressive!
    

    Any different mother or father at all would be for the better.
                                         
    I'd keep my Grandma but she died when I was a kid. 
    
      Margaret

    I'd keep my own parents (but younger, healthy and alive), just like
    they were but with a bit more self-confidence in themselves and *me*, a
    bit more openmindedness on their part, and a bit more money!
    
    I would prefer a brother who was a tad more *normal*, like somebody who
    talked to people, actually had friends, and maybe got married and had
    kids, so we'd have a bigger family.  Either that, or no brother at all.
    
    Lorna
    

    To put a slight twist on this, I would choose, not because they
    would make good parents, but because I think these two could have
    produced someone like me: Isadora Duncan and James Thurber.
    	Linda

    
    
    Maybe this should go in the true confessions note, but... this topic
    scares me a little.  Like if I respond to it, I'll be whisked away
    as if in an episode of the _Twilight_Zone_ and wake up with the
    parents I said I wanted, and they'll turn out to be awful.  When
    I was little, I used to wish I'd find out that my father wasn't my real
    father at all and that my real father would be a nice man who was kind
    to my mother and my brother and me.  I guess that where I came from
    made it possible for me to be who and where I am today, and that's
    feeling better all the time.  But I often wish that I had parents who
    were proud of me and liked me.
    
    But I do get to choose my family now.  I feel I should skip the mushy
    stuff about my lover since some of you know her (blush, blush), but
    we are a very nice family, and over the years I've made some deep
    friendships that feel like family to me.  The relatives happened to
    me, and some of them are part of my family now, but real family is
    (I think) what you create!
    
    Justine
                                           

                
    May Sarton, in one of her books of journals, speaks of her dog (Tamas)
    and her cat (Bramble) as her family. Especially after both animals
    died, that's how she refers to the three of them -- as a family.
    
    D.
    

    re: Justine
    
    Family is what you create. Yep. I agree, absolutely.
    
    RE: my family
    
    I've been asking myself if I'd want different parents. Or maybe the
    *same* parents, but sober. Well, it might be fun to try it out, if
    I could. But I dunno if I'd want to make it a Definite, Permanent,
    Thing.
    
    I figger: If my parents were different people, or
    themselves-but-different, would *I*  be *me*? If not, I guess I'd pass.
    I *like* me, and maybe I'd be a different me if *they* were 
    different *they* (theys?)
    
    And maybe we *are*, on some other plane of existence, anyway...
    
    --DE
     

    I am really happy with about 98% (that's about 400) of my relatives.
    That is brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, neices and nephews,
    inlaws and outlaws. They are real neat bunch of folks and I love
    them dearly. There are a couple of "fruitcakes" that could easily be
    replaced and a strange sister-inlaw, but all in all they are great
    people.  I do wish that my dad could have lived to enjoy his
    grandchildren, he died 29 years ago and the oldest grandchild is 31. I
    wish that my mom could have lived to see my daughter graduate from
    college. But i wouldn't trade them.

    Anybody short of Jack the Ripper would be a good replacement for my
    father.  ;-}
    
    As for my mother...I wouldn't trade her for anything!
    
    Sibs - well my closest brother has gotton a little too Yuppy-ish for my
    taste, still, if it wasn't for him I'd have nobody to get into heated
    arguments with at family parties so I guess I'll keep him!  :-)
    
    Nanci

I don't know WHO I'd like for a father, but I know I didn't like the one I got.
I'm so soured on fathers that I'm not sure I want a father at all. Think I'd
keep my mom though - faults and all. Hmmm, maybe my father-in-law would have
made a good father. (I get along with the in-laws famously.)

It took me ten years to get over my dislike of fathers enough to become one.
I'm STILL scared I'll turn out like my father and that my kid will hate me.

	:-(
	-- Charles

    I suspect our family might have been better without booze...
    
    My folks were okay and I would only wish they understood themselves.

    With all our foibles and failings, my family is the best one I know. 
    We're more than a tad unusual and very close-knit.
    
    grins,
    Marge

    For real, I wouldn't trade my parents (especially my Mom), but,
    just for fun, and maybe only for a day or so, I'd love to have
    Merlin be my Dad.
    
    And a great mom-for-a-day-or-so, I think maybe somebody totally
    fun, like Aunt Clara from the old "Bewitched" series would be a hoot.
    
    C.
    

    I think Christine Lahti's character in the movie "Housekeeping" would
    make a neat mother.
    
    Lorna
    
    p.s.  Actually, in some ways she reminded me a little of my own mother!