The Secret Life of Parents

Surprising Facts About Our Parents

An essay by Jake DeLapp

8A English

10/25/10

        Our parents all probably did something incredibly stupid, awesome or amazing. In TKAM Jem and Scout learned that Atticus, who was thought to hate guns and violence, was actually an incredible marksman. The best in Maycomb county. Your parents may have secrets or have told you incredible stories that may have flabbergasted you as well. In this essay I will tell you all about how my mom isn’t as lame as I thought she was.

        (ts) Imagine that your seemingly normal dad was actually a rock star and went on tour all over the world, but he never told you! (sd) This is exactly what Scout and Jem go through when they realize there dad is ol’ one shot Finch, the best shot in town. (cm) In TKAM when the sheriff hands Atticus the shotgun Jem and Scout think he’s crazy, but then Atticus makes a perfect shot to take out Tim Johnson, the “mad dog”! (cm) Jem and Scout are astounded and excited to find out their dad isn’t as boring as they thought. (sd) Scout and Jem are also shocked why Atticus doesn’t want them shooting birds. (cm) They are confused because Atticus used to shoot birds and other creatures all the time when he was a child. (cm) Miss Maudie even said “If he shot 14 birds with 15 shots he considered it a waste of ammunition”.(cs) After what Jem and Scout saw, I don’t think they will ever call their dad boring again.

        Many of us have probably learned that our parents may not have been the person we imagined them to be in their youth. Your dad may have been a star sports player, or your mom may have been a cheerleader. Maybe their past was rebellious and they told you all about stunts they used to pull. I even learned that my mom saved my dads life and went on awesome vacations before I was born.

        Back in the olden days my mom actually saved my dads life when they were on vacation! They were going down natural slides made from waterfalls when my dad went to go down a wrong one when my mom grabbed him before he plummeted to his death. I was astounded when I learned about this vacation. I was startled because I didn’t think my mom ever did anything cool. I thought all she ever did was read or do other lame things just like Jem and Scout thought all Atticus ever did was read, it turns out we were all wrong. Although what my mom did was very cool I was also a little bit angered. Our family never goes on awesome vacations like sliding down waterfalls anymore! All we do now is go visit our cousins or go up to Vermont. I will have to talk to my parents about this issue, I want to go do something cool like they used to do sometime soon. When my parents told me all about this I learned that you should not always judge a book by its cover, someone who may seem lame may not be who you expected.