March 10, 2013
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Parental hugs are like pure magic.
And you find that even after all these
years, no son or daughter is immune
to the effects of this wonderful action.
I think that the older we get the less
we are predisposed to hugging our
parents as opposed to the salaam.
I can tell they miss hugging us, just
from that one extra second they spend
hanging on to our hugs. You can feel it
sometimes, like when you are about to
pull away and suddenly feel their arms
tighten around you. When it happens,
you know they are enjoying this rare
display of affection, something that
20 years ago we were all accustomed
to doing on a daily basis - before bed,
in the mornings, before going to school,
coming back from school, after dinner.
It does leave a hole in their hearts,
whether they say it aloud or not -
and in most cases they don't.
They would never want to beg
for affection from their children.
That is never how it should be.
So it is an appreciative sight to see,
sometimes, when I am out and run
into a family of strangers and notice
that the adult son or daughter has
their arms around a parent; or holds
their hands; or, if they part ways,
envelops them in a beautiful hug.
Sometimes I think about all those years
of rebellion and distance I kept from my
own parents, especially in my teens, and
I deeply regret all that time wasted - time
that, if I had known better, I could have
used to make my parents happy. By doing
simple things, like giving them more hugs.
I have been making up for all that
lost time over the past few years.
I hope you all get to, too.
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