Returning home is a feeling full of joy, relief, and comfort. I can't count back when I last felt the joy...
Life is difficult when we stay apart from family, there's no doubt about this. But life happens and it takes us far from our comforting home.
I have been staying apart from my family for over 20 years now. I have my own family in a different city and now I call it home. But leaving my own family and not being able to see them often still hurts.
There's indeed no comparison between my situation with the two astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. But somehow, we are all connected through emotions, we humans share the same emotions...
Video calls and other services are now available. But back then, staying connected with family was challenging. There was a time when I didn't get the opportunity to talk with my family for over a month. We used to meet once or twice in a year, sometimes less than that.
Back then, calling from a landline was cheap compared to calling through a phone. So my parents used to call me on my cell phone through their landline. This used to happen only in the evening, when I used to get back to my living place after attending classes at my college.
We couldn't talk for hours, probably because we always had a distant relationship. And when I moved out, there was an invisible barrier. So, the call used to happen only 2/3 days a week, all about my daily routine, if I had my lunch, how education was going, etc.
Now, as video call is available I call them almost every single day to get their updates. It feels good to at least get to see what they are doing, what they cooked for the day, how is my home, etc.
Physically present with the loved one, with the family is something else. No amount of video calls, letters, nothing can beat that.
Whenever I get the chance to meet them, I make sure I get full of out of it. Sometimes they came to visit me and sometimes I got to my parent's house. But that never happens often, once in every two to three years. If I'm fortunate then, maybe once in a year. That's it.
So what do I do when I meet them?
I try to feel the warmth of our relationship. We share meals, go outside, sometimes do nothing and enjoy the home comfort. There is nothing extra happening now, after all these years. But regular day-to-day things. The small things make me appreciate the time more.
The gossip, the fun, the homecooked meal, the comfort of our relationship, and getting updates about everything; make me go back again and again. It feels like the last puzzle of my heart that connects.
There's no way that life will give me a chance to live with my family. But I wish I could meet them often, share my inner feelings, and be there we need each other.
Life happens, we can't get everything we want. And that's okay. I readjust with what I have now and appreciate it.
