Does anyone else not know much about their Nparents past, and find they go to great lengths to keep secrets and project an overinflated self-image

These are my parents. They keep enough secrets to fill an ocean. If it's uncomfortable, make it a secret. Doesn't make you look perfect, make it a secret. Shows you made a mistake, make it a secret. And then create another secret to conceal that secret. And another to conceal that one. It's like there's part of their brain missing and they're simply incapable of taking the high road. And if you call them out or even ask a question, a mature person would admit they were wrong or understand that many people lie about things and you have to gain their trust. But not them? The moment you ask an uncomfortable question it's always "How could you say that?" or "How could you accuse us of doing this?" and they become not only defensive but also hysterical and obnoxious as well. It's like, how dare you even ask.

If they were at least halfway intelligent at least they'd understand that doesn't exactly build confidence in their honesty. Quite the opposite, it shows you may have just uncovered o e of their secrets or at least you're on the right track. At a bare minimum, it shows they're aware they aren't generally forthcoming about a lot of things and you have reasons to be untrusting of them. But of course, they'll never admit that. No, that would require too much self-reflection and they think they can shout the truth into silence. And if they have to ruin everyone's day and even break an object or two to get there, so be it.

I gradually realized as I entered my adolescent years they never ever admitted to making any mistakes, ever. They *always* strutted their achievements, or even embellished them, but practically never admitted to a failure or a mistake. If they did, they did so on accident or only when other circumstances made keeping the secret impossible. But they held on to it for as long as they could. And now I have immense trust issues and great difficulty trusting anyone. But of course they'll always point the finger at you.