Count yourself lucky if you still have both your parents in your life, in fact, consider yourself blessed and one of God’s favourites if both your parents are alive and well. A parent can never be replaced and their love can never be replicated.

I know of many people who grew up without their parents and every now and then I would hear them sigh and wish their parents were around, some would pray and ask for just one more chance to hear or see them. Parents are special, a gift and in many ways a privilege to have.
Life can be short and with so much happening in the world today, we sometimes forget that we have parents who just want to be parents to their children, who love their children more than they can actually comprehend. As the children enter into their youth they sometimes seem to forget that there was a time they relied on their parents’ help and guidance to get around in the world. The parents never stop being parents, but somewhere along the road, the children stop being sons and daughters.

As we get older, our parents also slowly start to age, some become older, some a little vulnerable and others become lonely, their sons and daughters become adults and become less reachable. Somehow, at a time when parents need the attention and support of their children, the children are less available and if they are there, they are glued to their screens or live in their own imaginations and realities.

Giving love and attention to parents isn’t always a lovely and fun experience, it can be, but it is not always the case, parents are not the same, some are selfish and ungrateful, others can never be satisfied and some just don’t care, unfortunately, that’s just life. 

No matter what we all enjoy and appreciate a little love and attention from those we care about, that will always feel good, no matter how bad of a day or situation one finds themselves in love and attention from the right person will always make things better.

While we are still on this earth with our parents, we should strive to love them and care for them as they did for us when we came into this world. Do not get distracted by the happenings of the world today, that you simply forget or neglect those that brought you and cared for you in this life. Love and respect your parents.

* Olavi Popyeinawa
Twitter: @olavipopyeinawa
Email: olavipopyeinawa@gmail.com