Every child’s upbringing is different; my life was also very individualized.  My father was in the Navy and my mom stayed at home as much as she could. I rarely ever saw my dad, as he was always out at sea. I try to recall how things were and I can’t remember a lot from when I was young. I remember growing up in Hawaii but a lot of it has been forgotten. I moved from Hawaii to Michigan and it was a drastic change. Shortly after moving my parents split up. I rarely saw my father. Everything that I needed came from my mom. She would work long hours and late nights just to make sure she my brothers and I had everything needed to get through. The relationship between my role model and Brad Manning’s’ was very different.
               Brad had a very physical relationship with his father. He talks about how his dad was never emotional available. His father only seemed to every care if it can to something like sports. His dad never seemed to want to talk to him about anything but sports. He talked about how often he would arm wrestle with his dad. His dad always gave him the option to say when to start the match. Giving him this option, I feel, only put brad down more than just out right beating him. By allowing brad to feel like he had an advantage to the match only to beat him probably just knocked him down further emotionally. Everything between Brad and his father seem to be a competition. My childhood on the other hand was much different. My mom never tried to arm wrestle with me. It may have been that she knew me being a growing teenage boy she had no shot of winning. My mom was always emotional available for me. She allowed me to talk to her about anything I needed to talk to her about. I never recall her ever talking about sports scores or what happen the night before during the football game.  Just as I got older so did Brad. He went off to college and his relationship with his father stayed the same. One week while he was home on break his father decided just like any other time they had to arm wrestle. His dad did everything the same, even offered for him to say when to start the match. This match ended much different than any other match had ended in the past. Brad finally beat his father. Rather than being happy Brad was almost worried. He had always seen his dad as this strong person with strong arms and a strong attitude. This win did not seem to be a victory right away. Brad seemed disappointed thinking that change was not a good thing. He was prepared to lose just as he had done every time before. Unlike brad I came home and visited from college and nothing had really changed. My mom was still there to talk to. She asked how everything was and how I enjoyed the college life. She seem to be extremely happy to see me. Many things changed after going away to college and then coming back home. My mom seemed to look at me a different way. It was not necessarily a bad thing. She still saw me as her little baby but the relationship change from me being a child to me being an adult. Our conversations seem to be more “grown up” than anything else. I remember as a kid in school it was all about how my friends were, what video game I was constantly playing or what time to be home. These conversations changed into what I was eating, what my plans were for a job or what drunken mistake I made.
              Brad saw a change in his father and it took time; I also saw a change in my father. Without my father really being around much due to the navy and the divorce I really did not know what to expect from a father figure. I did know how to act or what to say. It took nearly 22 years but my dad had reached a point he decided to try and step in. It was a shock for me, just like it was for brad, but mine was a much different feeling than his. Brad seemed worried about what may be going on and assumed that the change was for the worst. When my dad made the decision to step in I was much happier than you would think. It never crossed my mind that something could have been wrong. He went from not talking to me to choosing to try and spend time with me. He started to get me into some of the things he was into. Although I love everything my mom had done for me I saw the things that I missed out of those 22 years with him not being around. I finally had someone to talk to about girls, cars, and guns.  Also as hard as my mom tried it was easier to talk to dad about video games. 
                Just how Brad’s upbringing and mine were different I’m sure yours was also just as different. Brad and I have some similarities but we also had our differences. Brad may not have felt as if his life was ideal or the best he absolutely wanted. Although my life may not seem like the perfect image of ideal I feel like it was ideal for me. The ideal family does not come from how many pets you have. It does not come from have a mom and a dad. Also it defiantly does not come from who wins an arm wrestling match. The ideal family is the one you surround yourself with. An ideal family is what you make it. I didn't have my dad around but that didn't change how I felt about the way I was raised. I would not trade how things happened. I don’t look at other families wishing that’s how I had it. I made myself and ideal family and love every moment of it.