i can relate well too. My dad inspired me to study math and science, and i can still remember sitting with him and learning binary when i got bored with long division. I think its different if you surpass a parent in their own field. like, if i had become great at history, it wouldn't matter so much, but now that I'm studying math, i can tell he struggles real hard trying to give me advice. I've surpassed him on some levels, not on others. eventually, i definately will understand math much better than him, and possibly physics as well (he's actually an engineer.) I can tell that he realizes that and doesn't look forward to it so much. i know he's proud of me, but he's been doing his work as long as I've been alive... i don't think its easy to accept that i may be better suited for it soon. even with computers he's getting outdated fast, and he hates to admit it.
when i learned guitar, my father taught me my first chords. a few years later, his skills don't even compare to mine. when i jam with his friends at parties, i know he's just proud to have inspired me, i can see it in his eyes. i think that guitar and math are different because math has been his livelihood, and my out-performing him says something about his competition at work.
my mum only got a high school degree, but i still have a similar scenario with her. she loved to travel, and she's who i get my sense of adventure from. like my dad she encouraged me to try new things and meet new people and see new places when i was very young. Now, I've started wanting to go off on my own and I've already seen some things she never has. She's proud of me, and encourages me, but i can see the longing in her and wishing that she could go with me. i know she envies me because she's stuck being a wife and mother, while I'm young and exploring.
with both my parents i feel guilty. especially because on top of everything, I'm trying to move away and live on my own. i think the only thing worse than my father's fear or my mums envy the thought that they won't even be near me to feel them anymore. My older sister still lives very close to home, and my other siblings are still in high school, and i think its going to be especially hard for my parents to realize that I'm really becoming independent. And with my dad especially, i can see him tightening the ties he has to me, and trying to force me to stay home. yeah, i feel guilty.