Dena Hunter

Animal instincts

I remember a quote someone once told me “You can pick your nose, but you can’t pick your parents.” When my dad met my step-mom she was always telling me that I wasn’t  skinny enough, and that I ate too much sugar, but I just thought she was crazy and that there relationship was not going to last. Later on I started to understand her, and respect her. I think that I didn’t have a choice about my dad’s wife, but I ended up realizing that she was family. I have four extremely different parents and I can all relate them to animals. My step-mom is just one of four parents that I have, and I can see how lucky I am that they’re different types.

The first group of parents is what I call the penguins, because both spend time raising their children and gathering food. Penguins can also weather the worst elements, like my mom and step-dad they had to deal with life’s major let downs, and when they thought one door was open it was locked shut.  My mom and step-dad represent this group because they are both really hard and honest workers. My step-dad works in the union as a taper. He’s spent all his life working and trying to raise a functional family with all the love that he could provide. My mom is the back bone of our family, she’s the one that does everything. She cleans the house, makes dinner, pays the bills, goes to work, and when she has the time she can see me run a cross-county race. Parents that are like penguins need to remember that children grow up fast and need to spend time with their baby penguins before it’s too late.

The next group of parents is what I call the giraffes. Both are sophisticated and have good taste for fine foods, like giraffes they pick the best vegetations first because of their long necks. My real dad represents this group because he reads many books, sometimes three books in a month. He also enjoys traveling to
Europe to go skiing. My step-mom almost has her PhD, and graduated at a prestigious college. She also spent three years in
France studying the culture. They are both hard workers, but spend their time living very comfortable. Parents that are like giraffes come off as snotty people, but my dad is the first one to lend a hand when someone is in need. 

There are many different parents that could be represented as animals. I like how my parents could be penguins and giraffes, because they all play their crucial part in nature, and that they are beautiful animals that can only be found in special areas. So it’s true, you can pick your nose, but you can’t pick your family. I wouldn’t want it any other way