Growing up, my dad was the world to me. I was the stereotypical "daddy's little girl." I wanted to grow up and marry a man just like him. He was smart, fun, always happy, and would never do anything to hurt his family. Of course most any father was like this to his six-year-old daughter.
Dad always taught me that school was important and told me fun stories about his school days. Every kid hears about the "good ol' days". I knew what I wanted to be by the third grade: a teacher. High school graduates not planning on college were a foreign concept for me, and I was only eight years old.
Both my parents enforced rules about drinking and smoking. If I had known the word then, I would have called them hypocrites since they both used to smoke, and beer was an acceptable dinner drink for my dad.