Addendum

My parents aren't mad at me, and really nor am I at them. We've always been close and nothing as far as I can see would ever be able to destroy that. I may think they take crazy stands at times, as in now, but I respect the integrity and stedfastness of their decisions. The problem for me, as it is for every coming-of-age young person, is that I must now be independent to a large extent and make similiarly firm resolutions and follow them...even if they are in opposition to those of my parents. Life goes on. And so does the following words spoken by Samuel Clemens, who used the pen name "Mark Twain": When I was fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have him around. When I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years. Of course, only a couple years away from that "21."