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In reply to the discussion: Do you really want to know why some people are MAGAts? Read my story. [View all]herding cats
(19,558 posts)My grandparents were shockingly older for the time when they had my mom, their only child together (my grandfather had another son from a previous marriage who was nearly 30 years my mothers senior). They were in their 50's and 40's back in the mid 1940's when she was born. She was a surprise, to say the least. She too, was spoiled.
She was older than you I think, but extremely similar in many ways. They were also Depression survivors, they had an authoritarian streak which ran wide and deep in them. They raised her by their standards from their era, which even though they were Democrats, led to her being the opposite in her youth. This seems odd to me now, but perhaps it's not uncommon? I'm wondering if it may have been a communication problem?
We're from California, and as such my grandfather and grandmother, both were Lockeed (now Lockeed Martin) pensioners, and they despised Reagan. I still remember my mother baiting them with him when I was small and he was running for president. She ultimately didn't vote for him, or Carter, but her mind was definitely a mess back then. Like you, she's come out the other side since, thankfully.
I've never been a Republican. For some odd twist of genetics my empathy runs deep and is hardwired into me. Nature rather than nurture, in an odd twist. According to my mom I've been like this since I developed my personality as a toddler, it's just grown since then. Sadly, it caused strife between us when I was small and I didn't understand why she didn't like me. I didn't realize I was different but I knew she didn't like me. She did her best to burn my empathy out of me, but it's truly too deeply ingrained in my core to avoid. There were some interesting teenage years, to be sure.
Funny aside, I at one point thought you might be a right leaning Latino. I can't for the life of me recall how I came to wonder that, but I know I remember having the thought once.
I'm really happy for you that you worked it all out in your own mind, and I hope you're in a healthier and happier place. Even considering these current bleak times.