I am lucky to have had an attentive, curious and loving dad and heart-smart, down-to-earth, gifted mother. They changed the outlooks of their own lives and have never forgotten the people and organizations that helped them dream bigger than their circumstances should have allowed.

Garner frames her upbringing as a form of “luck” rooted in parental character rather than material advantage: an intellectually engaged, affectionate father and a practical, emotionally intelligent mother. She emphasizes upward mobility as something her parents actively pursued—“changed the outlooks of their own lives”—while also stressing gratitude and social responsibility: they remember the people and institutions that enabled them to “dream bigger.” The quote links personal success to community support and models a values-based narrative of achievement, where ambition is paired with humility and reciprocity rather than self-sufficiency.