Powerleveling a bit but I was raised by a single mother. She did her best, and thankfully she always tried to steer me towards male-oriented hobbies and groups (I was a boy scout for my entire childhood and good chunk of adolescence, later I got involved with a bunch of military reenactors, I went to a railway model club, etc.) so I'd have some male role models in my life. I'm grateful to her for that.

But still, there are things, often subtle, that a single mom just can't provide. Things like self-discipline. She was always very lenient with me, and I loved it at the time, I could do basically whatever I wanted (at the same time I think I was always pretty reasonable, I never got into any serious trouble), but it took my until I was maybe 30 to realize that it's not a great way to raise a kid. I'm doing well for myself, but I'm kind of a faggot when it comes to determination and willpower.

She also had me fairly late, at 36, and she was fat her whole life - which caught up with her later and she passed away when I was 30, at the age of 66. Nearly all of my friends have living parents and often even grandparents; if I have kids at any point, they'll never even know grandma Foul.