23/01/2026
In the silence remember who you are. Without all our stories, we are the same.
Too often, we beg, plead, and even bargain just to be acknowledged by our estranged adult child. We bend and bend and bend. We stay quiet, toe the line, and shrink ourselves until we’re barely recognizable.
We do this because we love our child more than anything—often more than we love ourselves—even when we are last on their list, or not on it at all. But we have to stop being so afraid of losing our adult children that we lose who we are in the process. That isn’t a relationship. That's not living. That's fear.
I'm not saying you slam the door shut. I'm saying that you need to start loving yourself. You need to find those who love and support you and invest your time with them. You deserve a life of peace, respect, and joy. -Anna Strand