In this StoryCorps segment, Mark Ganter (54) has a conversation with his mom, Irene Nemetz Ganter (80), about their family's history.

 

TRANSCRIPT:



Irene Nemetz Ganter: My greatest influence probably was my mother. Even though we had kind of. Not the best relationship, kind of volatile, during a good part of our lives. But looking back now, I see so many things that she taught me. As a matter of fact, you have, on a few occasions and probably more than a few occasions said you're just like your mother. Which at times I've taken, in a negative view because my mother could be a difficult person. But I think also it was meant as a compliment because my mother, she was a very strong person. I'm sorry.

Mark Ganter: No.

Irene Nemetz Ganter: She overcame a lot of hardship. And I think her strength kind of carried me through.

Mark Ganter: I have to believe that and have to imagine, like, what the power of her strength was to you in your life, because, I mean, you know, resonated with me, which is palpable. And somehow it was. It was genuine, but it was unassuming. You know, it wasn't something that she ever felt the need to, to talk about her to, to dwell upon, it just existed. And it was and listen and just, you know, it had a greatness to it. And we're gonna get back to that.

Irene Nemetz Ganter: Okay. 

Mark Ganter: It's one of the one of the things I wanted to talk about. Are there any moments, like, just particular moments from your youth? That you remember and that still came back to you in moments of joy or worry or pain. Anything from like your younger years, like just significant, like kind of pivotal events.

Irene Nemetz Ganter: And it's so trivial. But times when I had difficulties, even as a young, as a child, my mother and I batted heads. And one day she made me wear a dress, and I didn't want to wear a dress. And I was so furious, I think I ended up having to wear it. It was on a Sunday afternoon. I was sitting outside.

Mark Ganter: How old were you?

Irene Nemetz Ganter: I was probably about ten, 9 or 10 or so, I was young. And I was a tomboy, and I loved playing with the boys rather than with the girls because I, that was sport, not sports so much, but just doing physical stuff that girls didn't do and having to wear a dress just was not something that I wanted to do. And for some reason that sticks in my mind. It's just a trivial little thing, but it sticks in my mind.

Mark Ganter: Does it come back to you when you're just kind of pondering and reflecting to come back when you're angry or?

Irene Nemetz Ganter: No, no, no, not not at all. Today when I think back to it, I think this was ridiculous. Why should this have bothered me so much? But it was just the way I was and the way she was. I think she always wanted me to be more ladylike. And I, and that wasn't me at the time. It's changed over the years. But when I was a little, I did not want to be a lady, little lady. I wanted to be a tomboy. And that was not her.

Mark Ganter: I think there's something in you that I see in me. And, you know, sometimes it's an asset, sometimes as a liability. But it's a fierce independence.

Irene Nemetz Ganter: Yeah, definitely.

Mark Ganter: I don't think there's anything you could have told me to do like that growing up that I would have done or been comfortable doing. I may have submitted eventually, but I would have fought it to the death just for the sake of not having someone control that about me. And yeah, you know, love it or hate it, it's who we are.

Irene Nemetz Ganter: Exactly.

This story was produced locally for GPB by Chase McGee and recorded in partnership with StoryCorps Atlanta.