So finally, I can feel a sort of pride in all my family - Mum, Lynn, Corin, Tasha, my cousin Gemma - because, I think how wonderful that this troop of gypsies can carry on telling stories.
My family is basically Gypsies - for real.
I was mainly influenced by the Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, Loretta Lynn, Merle Haggard, and others like Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash.
My family was really big on college, and it was hard for them to stomach that I was going to be a hairdresser.
Even though Haitian women are considered the 'poto mitan' - the 'central pillars' of the family and their communities - they are often the most underserved members of already poor communities.
Haiti, if you've ever met a Haitian person, they are just really positive, and literally, if you're friends with them, then they will do anything for you. So I think that's something that is, like, a really good trait, and I'm really happy that my grandparents and my dad's side of the family is like that.
When it came time to take a job, I had the distinction of joining the smallest company of any graduate in my class. I left to become only the fifth full-time employee of HAL, and when I told my father this, you can imagine, it was not the happiest moment in the history of my family.
You know, most people, they want to go to Hollywood. They want to be a star. They want to be a rock star. That thought never entered any of our minds, the Van Halen family.
The name Van Halen, the family legacy, is going to go on long after I'm gone.
I look at it like this: that if Shakespeare were alive today, he would have written two or three plays about the Kennedy family, and actors would traditionally play JFK like they Hamlet or King Lear. They just would. I mean, people have played JFK, and they'll play him long after I have.
Part of the reason why my folks - why any immigrant family - wants their kids to go into law or medicine is because there's the promise of reliable work. That's a powerful idea that got hammered into my head growing up: Be this thing, or else you'll starve.
My father had hammered into me, you want to look after your family, you want a nice house, and you want to be able to enjoy yourself, and you have to work very hard for those things. Don't think the world is going to come to you.
My wife and I got engaged in New Hampshire at this lake house that her family's had forever, and it's on Lake Winnipesaukee. And so we went there every summer as we were dating.
Like every parent, when you start your family, your life completely changes. And you completely live for someone else. I find that the most extraordinary thing. Your life is handed over to someone else. From that moment on, they come first in every choice you make. It's the most wonderful thing.
No one can travel your own road for you; you must travel it for yourself. My faith in this stems from my childhood. I grew up in a family with a system of religious beliefs handed down to me.
I believe things that happen in the ANC family must be handled there.
My biggest hobby is hanging out with my family and kids.
A real hangover is nothing to try out family remedies on. The only cure for a real hangover is death.
I believe Dad will be respected in 300 years, like Beethoven. As will Elvis, as will the Carter Family, as will Jimmie Rodgers, Hank Williams.
Growing up, I used to watch 'Happy Days,' 'Laverne & Shirley,' 'All in the Family.' Those were the shows I watched growing up with my family. And, believe it or not, 'McMillan and Wife' and 'Columbo.'
