The Unknown Teutuls, Part II: Cristin
Thursday, June 19 2008 | Comments (0)
Cristin Teutul
Her Dad describes Cristin Teutul as "the smart one" of the Teutul family: she moved away and became a nurse in upstate New York. Cristin was too young to be directly affected by Senior's drinking. In fact, in Orange County Choppers: The Tale of the Teutuls, Senior cites her birth as one of the things that motivated him to quit. Cristin was very affected by his recovery though. The stories she heard in years of 12 Step meetings and the insights she gained in long term family counseling are what shaped her decision to become a nurse. "I think it's important to have someone help you who is objective, who isn't involved in your life. We saw a family counselor for five years. That contributed to how I chose my profession as a nurse. Why people do what they do. That's interesting. I'm thinking about getting my master's in psychology. Boy, could I write a thesis about this family."
Cristin is the baby of the family, a full eight years younger than Paul Junior. Though all the Teutul boys were very protective of their sister, Pauli was especially protective of his baby sister. He even beat up Mikey a few times to stop him from picking on her.
Like her brothers, Cristin grew up loving motorcycles. Her dad would often ride her around town on the Sunshine bike, starting when she was only five or six years old. This upset her mom, but her dad took her anyway; it was father-daughter bonding time. "I love riding on the back with my dad. That is one of my favorite things to do with him. It brings me way back to when I was little, when he tightened the strap under my helmet. I liked that, and I make him do it. That's special to me. It reminds me of how much I love him." And like her brothers, she started work at an early age. She avoided the family steel business though and took a job at a nursing home: another step on her way to becoming a nurse.
Cristin and Dad
Cristin is protective of her brothers too. She worried when Pauli began to work full time building cycles with his dad. Their relationship was always so intense and volatile. "There's been a lot of arguing through the years. If Michael and Danny were to do something, and Paulie was to do the same thing, the arguments would be way bigger with Paulie and my father." Pauli had just begun attending church again and was doing well as a department head at the ironworks. "I let Paulie know I was skeptical and scared about them going into this together ... I knew that their working relationship wasn't great. Working together makes it difficult to separate the personal from the business. It's impossible, actually. So I was concerned for both of them, that it could ruin their relationship."
When the first episode of American Chopper aired, she wasn't sure what to think. "I was disappointed. I wasn't ashamed. I've never felt ashamed of my family, ever. I felt more protective toward them. I didn't want them to be exposed, and that's what upset me. I didn't feel it was 100 percent honest or true. Even if they didn't mind the arguing, I minded."
She still has mixed feelings about the fame and attention. There are obvious benefits, the money and financial security especially. But she worries that the costs--loss of privacy, public scrutiny, family friction--are not worth the benefits. "It's been a blessing not to have to worry about certain financial things that everyone else has to worry about. But there's a certain simplicity that's been taken away, and I miss that."
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