No one prepares you for the silence that children leave behind when they grow up…
Not the silence of an empty house,
but the silence that creeps into your heart…
when they no longer ask you what to do,
when they no longer seek your advice,
when they begin to live… without you.
And you smile, of course.
Because that’s what you wanted: to see them fly.
But inside… something breaks.
Because being a parent of adult children is something else.
It’s biting back your words when you see they’re wrong.
It’s swallowing the urge to call when they don’t answer.
It’s learning to love without invading.
It’s looking from afar, with your hands still
and your heart trembling.
Sometimes they tell you things… but often they don’t.
And you pretend it doesn’t hurt.
But it does hurt.
It hurts not to be part of everything like before.
It hurts to see that they no longer need you… at least not like before.
And yet, there you are.
Putting out their favorite food when they come over.
Arranging their childhood photos.
Praying for them every night, as if that were enough to protect them from the world.
Because deep down, parents never stops caring.
Parents only learns to do it from the shadows.
From a corner.
From a prayer.
And that’s a form of love that no one sees…
but that sustains everything.
Mayrasa
Sorry for changing mother to parents
Parents…
the only souls in this world
who can never be replaced.
No matter their flaws,
no matter their strengths,
they remain
the truest superheroes of our lives.
I am blessed—
beyond measure—
to still see their faces,
to still feel their prayers
wrap around me like unseen armor.
For every whisper of doa,
every thought of my well-being,
is lifted straight to Allah
without delay,
without barrier.
Truly, every parent is a guardian angel,
a hero with no cape,
a love with no end.
And sometimes I dream—
if only I were born old
and grew younger each day,
so that when my final breath arrives,
I could rest
in the gentle arms of my parents,
and leave this world
wrapped in their love.
~Norman Thet Paing Khant
