Original
My parents are honest. They are honest about who they are and how things are. They have never lied to me to make a situation easier; they tell me the truth because they understand its value. Don’t tell me that my dog is going to spend some time on a farm…tell me he is dying of spleen cancer. And then drive three hours to let me see him one last time. My mom carrying my dog up three flights of stairs to my dorm room, that is a scene I will never forget. Don’t tell me that your job is fine, that you work with great people and feel validated…tell me you want to quit, or try to be fired. Tell me that you need prayers because you are considering leaving a job you have held for 16 years but the people are so selfish and spiteful that you can’t stand them anymore. My dad asking me to translate a business proposal into Swahili and then emailing that to his boss, that is an email I will never delete.

Past Tense
My parents are honest. They are honest about who they are and how things are. They have never lied to me to make a situation easier; they tell me the truth because they understand its value. My mom didn’t tell me that my dog was going to spend some time on a farm…she told me he was dying of spleen cancer. And then she drove three hours to let me see him one last time. My mom carried my dog up four flights of stairs to my dorm room, that was a scene I will never forget. My dad didn’t tell me that his job was fine, that he worked with great people and felt validated…he told me he wanted to quit, or try to get fired. He told me that he was considering leaving a job he has held for 16 years because the people were so selfish and spiteful that he couldn’t stand them anymore. My dad asked me to translate a business proposal into Swahili and then emailed that to his boss, that was an email I will never delete.

I think I will sustain the changes I made, switching from present to past tense...at least for this paragraph. I think the original paragraph seems kind of confusing now as I look back at it. The way I address my parents, saying, "don't tell me..." does not make it clear that they in fact didn't tell me that. The past tense indicates more clearly what they did or did not tell me. Although, in the original, I do like the way it seems I am personally addressing my parents in the essay, but I don't do that anywhere else so I guess it doesn't quite fit with the rest of the essay. I think after this experimental revision, I will go through my other paragraphs and read solely for tense issues, to see which will make the story clearer.