When You’re Young, You Just Don’t Get It
Let’s be real: when we’re younger, most of us don’t fully appreciate our parents. We see their rules as annoying, their advice as outdated, and their worries as dramatic. We roll our eyes at their texts. We get frustrated when they don’t understand us or when they love us a little too loudly.
We think we’ll always have time.
Time to visit.
Time to call.
Time to reconnect later.
But life moves fast — and somewhere between growing up and growing into ourselves, we begin to realize: our parents aren’t just the people who raised us…
They’re often the ones who love us the most — even when they don’t always know how to show it perfectly.
They Show Up, Even When We Push Away
There’s something incredibly humbling about realizing your parents have been in your corner all along — quietly cheering you on, worrying from a distance, and forgiving your short replies and long silences.
Maybe they weren’t perfect.
Maybe communication wasn’t easy.
Maybe their emotional toolbox came with some missing instructions (especially in certain cultures or generations).
But at the end of the day, there’s this beautiful, complicated, unconditional love that remains — even through the awkward dinners, the misunderstandings, and the generational gaps.
They’re the ones who still ask if you got home safe.
The ones who remember your allergies and your coffee order.
The ones who would do anything — anything — to see you happy and okay.
The Older I Get, the More I Want to Be Around Them
There’s a shift that happens as we age.
At some point, spending time with our parents becomes less of an obligation and more of a gift.
We start to see them not just as “Mom” or “Dad,” but as human beings — with their own stories, sacrifices, regrets, and wisdom.
And suddenly, that Sunday coffee or family dinner carries weight.
Not because it’s dramatic. But because it’s fleeting.
Because we realize we won’t always have these moments.
The Love That Doesn’t Expire
We don’t always say it.
Sometimes we still roll our eyes or get impatient or forget to call.
But deep down, we know:
Our parents — in all their imperfections — are home.
They are roots.
They are the ones who’ve watched us fall apart and still believed we’d find our way.
They might not have the fanciest words or the perfect emotional language.
But the love? It’s loud. It’s deep. It’s consistent.
Let’s Start Saying It Now
Say the “thank you” now.
Make the call.
Ask about their day.
Hug them tighter.
Laugh at their bad jokes.
Show up.
We’re so busy growing up and figuring it out that we forget they’re also getting older.
Final Thoughts
This isn’t a guilt trip.
It’s a love note.
A reminder that we get caught up in life — in work, in relationships, in healing — and forget to cherish the ones who’ve been loving us since day one.
So here’s to our parents.
For trying. For loving us in their own way.
For being human and still showing up.
Let’s love them back — while we still can.
Self-Love with a Side of WTF 
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