“I've always been willing to take challenges, I grew up taking challenges: being an only child, having a mother, no father, I've always been one who has always done things the way I thought they should be done and not, and not having to answer to anybody for it and I've always taken my own chances and I've always followed by instincts according, mother would follow, follow wit, instincts, wisdom, whatever, always followed that.” WayShouldChildrenDoneMotherFatherChallengesChanceMy OwnAnswersTakenWillingGrewGrew UpInstinctWitOnly Child Author:Teddy Pendergrass
“I grew up poor in India, and there were days when we struggled to find food and other basic necessities. Our mother worked odds and ends jobs to keep the family together and educate us.” EndsTogetherJobsMotherPoorGrewGrew UpIndiaEducateOddsFamily TogetherOdds And Ends Author:Naveen Jain
“I grew up without a father, and my mother grew up without a father and her mother grew up without a father. So we have this long heritage of growing up without fathers.” LongMotherFatherGrowing UpGrowingGrewGrew UpHeritage Author:Gloria Gaynor
“I grew up as an only child and my mother was also an only child, so we were both very passionate about reading. I think I passed that on to my daughter, who went plowing through 'Harry Potter' and every other book possible!” ThinkingChildrenBookMotherReadingGrewGrew UpDaughterPassionateMy DaughterHarry PotterPottersOnly ChildPlowing Author:Kate Beckinsale
“I grew up not understanding what was true and what was not true. It gave me a sense of unreality. I was told that this man [mom's lover] was not my mother's lover - when he was. I was told he was there as a male babysitter for my brother so that he would learn sports and other manly things.” MenMotherSportsUnderstandingBrotherGrewMomLoversGrew UpMalesMy BrotherManlyUnrealityBabysitter Author:Carly Simon
“I grew up as a dancer. I did tap, classical ballet, all of that. I did Indian dancing, or Bharata Natyam, classic temple dancing from Madras, originally. My mother always had the great idea that I should learn it.” ShouldIdeasMotherGrewGrew UpDancingIndianClassicDancerTemplesBalletGreat IdeaMadras Author:Roselee Goldberg
“I grew up in Detroit. So my mother always loved big band music.” BigsMotherGrewBandGrew UpDetroit Author:Glenn Frey
“I grew up in the dance school my mother owned, and I see everything in body shapes, everything visual.” BodySchoolMotherGrewShapesGrew UpVisualsBody Shapes Author:Dawn Angelique
“I grew up in a mobile home, but it wasn't like white trash - it was a beautiful mobile home park, I had a loving mother, there were kids everywhere, there was a playground in the center, I just grew up in poverty.” HomeKidsBeautifulMotherWhitePovertyGrewGrew UpParksTrashMobilePlaygroundsWhite TrashLoving Mother Author:Taryn Manning
“Because my mother was in love with Bobby Darin, I grew up with his records playing in our house all the time.” MotherHouseRecordsGrewGrew Up Author:Kevin Spacey
“My mother was very, very Protestant. I grew up Presbyterian, and I went to church every Sunday until I was 18. I was forced to.” MotherChurchGrewGrew UpSundayProtestantsPresbyterians Author:Rob Corddry
“My mother was an extraordinary theater actor in Canada, and when I would finish school, I would go to the theater. I would do my homework, we would have dinner there, she would do her play, and then me and my sister would go home. So I grew up in it that way.” WayPlayHomeSchoolMotherActorsGrewGrew UpTheaterExtraordinaryDinnerCanadaMy SisterHomework Author:Kiefer Sutherland
“I have a good black friend who is a doctor, but he didn't become a doctor because he saw other black men who were doctors. He became a doctor because his mother cleaned office buildings at night, and because she loved her children. She grew bowlegged from cleaning office buildings at night, and in the process she taught him something about courage and bravery and dedication to others.” MenChildrenMotherNightProcessBlackSawsBuildingTaughtGrewOfficeDoctorsBraveryDedicationCleaningBravery And CourageOffice Buildings Author:Richard Rodriguez
“Food is a passion because I basically grew up in a kitchen. My mother was a gourmet chef and I'm the youngest of five kids. We would always congregate in the kitchen.” KidsMotherPassionFiveGrewGrew UpKitchenChefGourmet Author:Laura Prepon
“My father was brought to this country as an infant. He lost his mother as a teenager. He grew up in poverty.Although he graduated at the top of his high school class, he had no money for college. And he was set to work in a factory but, at the last minute, a kind person in the Trenton area arranged for him to receive a $50 scholarship and that was enough in those days for him to pay the tuition at a local college and buy one used suit. And that made the difference between his working in a factory and going to college.” KindPersonsMadeCountryEnoughSchoolLastsUsedMotherFatherLostDifferencesPayClassPovertyMinutesCollegeGrewGrew UpHigh SchoolAreasLocalsSuitsTeenagerFactoriesInfantScholarshipNo MoneyLast MinuteTuitionGoing To CollegeKind PersonHigh School Class Author:Samuel Alito
“My father was a Muslim immigrant; when Donald Trump started talking about banning Muslim immigrants from this country, I grew my beard out. My mother hated it. She never wanted me to look particularly "Muslim." She thought if I grew my beard out that people would know, right? "Don't make it hard for yourself. Don't let people know."” PeopleIfsKnowsLooksCountryHardWantedMotherFatherTalkingGrewTrumpHatedImmigrantsBeard Author:Andrew Aydin
“I grew up as an only child, and my mother was a single mom. It's always been "us." If it weren't for her nurturing and guiding my artistic talents at a young age, I don't think I'd be a professional actress and performer today.” IfsThinkingChildrenAgeTodayYoungMotherTalentGrewMomGrew UpActressesArtisticPerformersYoung AgeNurturingSingle MomOnly ChildArtistic Talent Author:Edwina Findley
“I grew up with all mothers, all women. I come from a long line of matriarchs, very strong women.” LongMotherStrongLinesInspiringGrewGrew UpVery StrongStrong WomenMothers DayLong LinesMatriarchs Author:Erykah Badu
“I grew up in a modern business environment and did not experience the kind of prejudice that my mother and grandfather experienced.” KindMotherEnvironmentModernGrewGrew UpPrejudiceGrandfatherBusiness EnvironmentModern Business Author:Lewis Schiff
“Just physically, if you looked at the house that I grew up in, my mother created this greenhouse. And surrounded the entire property. And there was, like, trees and sculptures and like - it was, like, this crazy, like, secret garden space.” IfsMotherHouseSpaceSecretTreeCrazyGrewGrew UpGardenPropertySculptureGreenhousesSecret Garden Author:Kehinde Wiley
“I did not have any problem with speaking up because my mother, my family, my grandmother, my aunt - I grew up in a family dominated by women - always encouraged me to do so. And if a girl is unafraid, then the world is her oyster.” IfsWorldProblemMotherGirlGrewGrew UpMy FamilyGrandmotherMy GrandmotherAuntOystersUnafraidSpeaking Up Author:Ava DuVernay
“[My mother] was the oldest of two sisters and two brothers, and she grew up with her brothers, who were about her age. She grew up, to the age of ten, like a wild colt, and then all of a sudden that was over. They had forced on her her 'woman's destiny' by saying, 'This isn't done, this isn't good, this isn't worthy of a lady.'” TwoDoneAgeMotherDestinyBrotherGrewTenGrew UpWorthyTwo BrothersTwo SistersColts Author:Indira Gandhi