Your parents.

[Alex K]

My parents got married in '68 while living in one of the hotspots of the German student movement (the old capital of Bonn), talk about anticyclical. My dad, who is 9 years older, came from a very poor and catholic background and was a construction worker and occasional dancehall musician in the late 50s and 60s, which is when he met my mother, who grew up in a relatively wealthy (in comparison) protestant family of merchants and winemakers. An unequal pairing which was not immediately approved of on her side, but they got over it. He hated construction work like the plague, went to evening school to get a proper diploma, after which they went to college together to become HS teachers, and he also a classically trained singer on the side. Half my family were wine makers, so there's some drinking involved, but not to a degree that is unusual. My childhood was protected and harmonious, a very stable environment in one of the prettiest spots of the country, and there was music all around - my dad was conducting 3 choirs and mom probably a member of as many at times. My dad always communicated to me the wonder of science and his passion for curiosity and education, because he had to work so very hard to find these things due to his background - but I was never pushed hard to excel academically, that just came naturally to me.