Things you found out about your parents that shocked you

[snappydog]

Mm... Not my parents as such, but I found out a couple of things from my mum's side of the family recently that surprised me:
My uncle (Mum's brother) is not the father of my cousin, who is from a previous marriage.
My grandfather (Mum's father) died a few years ago and told his children on his deathbed that before he married their mother, he had been married to another woman somewhere in the North of England, I think... Anyway, there are children from that marriage so Mum was kind of surprised to find out that she has half-siblings running around somewhere, and I might have cousins or half-cousins or whatever they are that I've never met. Apparently he wanted to track them down but left in a bad way so lost touch with them.

 

[aether-x3]

Okay you'll probably read this and be like, "That's the most non-shocking thing ever" but my mum is Left Handed. I spent 16 years thinking she was right handed. Im 19 now so that was only 3 years ago that i found out...

other than that I like know nothing of my parents pasts, I don't even know how they met. All i know is that my brother was at their wedding(He was like 1 or something at the time) other than that I got nothin'

 

[Screamarie]

Finding out that the father I had always know to be my dad was not actually my biological father. My parents lied to me about until I was at least nine. And then my mother didn't even tell me she had been married to my biological father until I was 13, since she never talked about my dad I had assumed they had just had a one-nighter or had dated and he didn't want a baby or some such.

Also, finding out that my biological father tried to kill me in the womb was a lot of fun.

....God I don't know what's more fucked up, my parents or me. These two things are the worse, but only tip of the iceberg when it comes to the lies I've been told and the secrets that have been kept from me.

That's some really nasty stuff to do to your own child.

Yes, well to say my biological father was not daddy material would be an extreme understatement. He was an alcoholic, a drug addict, very phsyically abuse and, while my mother has never expressly said so, I'm almost certain he was sexually abusive as well.

As to my mother lying to me, to be fair to her, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to explain that to a child without causing some scarring. So in the end I suppose she did the right thing.

 

[SwimmingRock]

My mother used to be a member of some local gay rights activist group. This shocked me, because I've heard her frequently express the opinion that all gay people should be imprisoned for life to stop them poisoning our society.

On the other hand, it shocked me when my father mentioned he thought all gay people should be executed and that no gay person has ever contributed anything to culture or society. I expected homophobia from my mother, because she hates everybody. However, my father is very into art and music, so this was fucking baffling to me.

Also, the time my dad got drunk and told me the reason my mother always treated me poorly was because she blamed me for having been born male. She hit menopause shortly after I was born and always wanted a daughter. Once he told me that, I finally understood why my mother made me wear dresses and gave me Barbie dolls for Christmas when I was a small child.

 

[Black Arrow Officer]

That my dad nearly literally tore his balls off. He was trying to climb a fence when he was a kid when his pants got caught on it near the groin. He had to hold himself up with all of his 12 year old strength to keep his genitals from being destroyed. If that happened, I wouldn't be here today.

 

[Flamezdudes]

There isn't really any crazy stuff I can think of about my parents. They used to smoke, which is strange to me as I don't have any memories of them doing it but they apparently both did it still when I was very young. My siblings remember it well though.

Eh, they're "normal" really.

 

[streatim]

Quite a few shocking things come to mind, though they're probably not as juicy as some of the bits dropped thus far. Also, a little prep work might be required.

Growing up I mainly knew the ins and outs of my mother's family, mostly because they're Irish and alcohol was usually involved in our family gatherings. Needless to say, disclosure was never at the top of the list.

My father and his family, on the other hand, were always a bit of an enigma. Dad worked in a shop whenever I was home from school, and when he wasn't doing that he was performing service with the Air Guard. Growing up, what little time I spent with my dad confirmed him as the outdoorsey, straight-and-narrow type. Imagine my surprise, then, when I found out that my dad was a party animal in high school. One of my favorite stories revolve around him passing out at a party and waking up to find a kid standing over top of him, Katana leveled at his face, shouting "Who the %$#%$ are you?!"

Then there was the time he dated two women in high school, keeping both their names on opposite sides of a single bracelet. The side showing depended on which girl he was with at the time.

Also, I found out that my dad watched Transformers, the original cartoon, religiously when he was at Basic training for the Air Force. My dad, the sports-watching, buck hunting, GOP voting manly man had more nerd cred than me when it came to 80s sci-fi shows. *sigh*

One final tidbit of gossip, though- my Grampa shared a story with my sister and I about the night before his wedding. He'd gone out to the bar to have a few drinks when some woman came up to him and told him that he wouldn't be getting married the next day if he bought her a drink.

At this point Grampa (telling the story) casually shrugged his shoulders at us and explained "Well, I -had- to find out if she was right!"

Well, I wasn't really shocked, but... Apparently, Ol' Dad may have been somehow involved in the Rote Armee Fraktion. That could explain a thing or two.

They made an awesome movie about that. The Red Army Faction, that is. Not your dad. Unless he dies in it.

 

[Meight08]

It went like this

Mom:So what is your sexuality
Me:Hetero but i don't like lesbians.
Mom:Why aint that double the fun?
*we both start laughing*
Me:What are you lesbian?
Mom:No bi.
*I start laughing*
*Mom doesn't*
Me:wait your serious?
Mom:Yes i had a lesbian relationship with a woman for 10 years

 

[Souplex]

My mom used to edit for a penthouse subsidiary back in the 70's.
Apparently almost all the letters they published were written by one guy in a prison.
She was also on the committee that decided on the proper punctuation of the word blowjob.

 

[Evilsanta]

That would be when they told me that the man I thought as my was my real father for 13 years wasn't. Apperently my real father was some kind of dead beat and left as soon as he found out my mom was pregnant with me. Fun stuff.

Though I guess I should be gratefull to the basterd, If he hadn't left I and my mom would still be in Mexico and my mom would have died way earlier then she did. Also when I found out that my mom had cancer for a long time and was on recovery. But that didn't last long she got it again and as mentioned earlier passad away.

 

[direkiller]

found out my dad did things as a teen that would get him charged as a domestic terrorist today. and got away with it all.

 

[direkiller]

Not really 'shocking', but just weird.

My mother put me up for adoption when I was little so she and my dad (not my biological one) could re-adopt me.

They had to go through the entire adoption process.

Is it me, or does that seem... odd.

Not entirely
It almost happened to me if my parents did not have insurance due to me needing open-heart surgery. It was simply the easiest way for the state foot the bill if my parents were unable.

 

[Woodsey]

Finding out that the reason my father divorced my mother when I was 10 years old was because he came out of the closet as a homosexual. He tried to tell me why at the time but I was too young to understand. I'm 21 now, and have come to terms with it.

My Dad and I are very close, regardless.

Wow, same with me except besides being a homosexual, he was a deviant too. Devil-sex stuff.

What constitutes 'devil-sex stuff'?

 

[Torrasque]

My dad is 8 years older than my mom. I was really really weirded out by that.

I also found out in my mid-teens that my dad was actually raised by his older sister (23 years older) so he calls her "mom" for obvious reasons. All of his actual siblings are quite a bit older than him (I think his youngest sister is 6 years older than him), but he grew up with his siblings' children, so he considers his nieces and nephews as sisters and brothers. So my "cousins" are actually my nieces and nephews, and most of my "uncles and aunts" my cousins. Its all really weird and confusing to explain, lol.

 

[Torrasque]

Finding out that the reason my father divorced my mother when I was 10 years old was because he came out of the closet as a homosexual. He tried to tell me why at the time but I was too young to understand. I'm 21 now, and have come to terms with it.

My Dad and I are very close, regardless.

Wow, same with me except besides being a homosexual, he was a deviant too. Devil-sex stuff.

What constitutes 'devil-sex stuff'?

http://images.sodahead.com/polls/000059335/polls_darksided3zx_0910_102433_answer_3_xlarge.jpeg
I'm sorry, I couldn't resist, lol.

 

[VoidWanderer]

Not really 'shocking', but just weird.

My mother put me up for adoption when I was little so she and my dad (not my biological one) could re-adopt me.

They had to go through the entire adoption process.

Is it me, or does that seem... odd.

Not entirely
It almost happened to me if my parents did not have insurance due to me needing open-heart surgery. It was simply the easiest way for the state foot the bill if my parents were unable.

When I asked about Mum, she just shrugged. They were no major bills that I was aware of. It seemed to be just about the re-adoption thing.

 

[Starik20X6]

My Mum was a champion dirt-bike rider when she was a child, but my Grandad made her give it up and sold her bike when my Uncle gave himself a pretty serious concussion when he crashed his own bike. I suppose it's not really 'shocking' because it was never a secret, but it surprises people when I tell them... for about 3 seconds, until they realise that sort of thing is perfectly in character for my Mum.