What relationships are seminal?

The seminal relationships for each of us are with our parents. In many ways, they set the tone for all subsequent relationships. Hundreds of miles and decades of therapy will probably not be able to erase the imprint of those formative bonds. How we approach our friends, lovers, teachers, employers, and children is colored by those first human interactions. Even the way we envision God is influenced by whether we saw our parents as kind and caring, or authoritarian and retributive.