My dad

I suppose my dad grew up in a fairly poor household. His mom was from a working-class background, and his dad had been in the merchant marine (from Norway) and had had to work as a janitor to make ends meet for the family. He grew up in a strict Pentecostal environment - that was the religion his father had brought with him into the small Norwegian community in Brooklyn, New York where they lived. I don't think his relationship to his father was always easy. My dad (his name's Stan) did very well in school and wanted to go to university and to become a church minister. His dad, my grandfather Olav, tried to persuade him to just get a trade and go to work like he had done. Eventually, when Stan got his Phd, he emigrated to Canada where he met my mom. He got a job teaching in the university city where I grew up. It's called Waterloo and it's about an hour from Toronto. Now, he's retired and has written three books - some of the content of the books reflects his experiences growing up in New York. Maybe his leaning towards academia is what made me want to become a teacher too?