30/04/2025
When our parents leave this world, everything changes in ways you cannot prepare for.
It doesn’t matter how old you are, or how much you’ve built for yourself — some part of you still feels small, still searches for the safety you didn’t even realize you leaned on so much.
The late-night phone calls.
The comforting hugs.
The simple words — "It’s going to be okay" — no longer exist in the way you knew them.
Losing a parent changes your footing in the world.
You feel it when you hit milestones they will never see.
You feel it when something breaks inside you and there’s no one to call who knows exactly how to fix it with a few simple words.
Even when you have a family of your own, a career, responsibilities — nothing replaces being somebody’s child, unconditionally loved, unconditionally believed in.
Grief after losing a parent is a different kind of grief.
It creeps in quietly.
It hits you in the grocery store when you see something you know they would have loved.
It punches you in the gut when you achieve something and realize no call, no hug, no celebration from them is coming.
It’s a silence that lingers.
But with that grief comes something else — a deeper strength.
The lessons they gave us, the love they poured into us, the sacrifices we barely noticed — all of it remains, stitched into who we are.
We carry them forward with every choice we make, every kindness we show, every dream we dare to chase.
Loss forces you to grow into someone stronger, quieter, more grounded.
It forces you to face life with no illusions of forever.
It hardens some parts of us and softens others.
It teaches us that nothing stays the same — and sometimes, the hardest changes are the ones that shape us the most.
And while nothing fills the space they leave behind, their love echoes through everything you become.
Even on the hardest days, you are proof they were here.
You are proof their love didn’t end — it simply lives on through you.
