Coming home

Photo by Brennan Ehrhardt on Unsplash

Mother, I’m coming back home. I miss the smell of your love-stuffed meals; you pressing me to help myself to another serving. I know it sounds silly, but I just feel like washing the dishes while you stand by my side, drying them, asking me a bunch of questions about school, work, health, love, money, food, sports and everything else a loving mother worries about. I miss your grey hair and your timeless wisdom; I miss being your son. Mamma, I’m coming home. I want to sit on the couch right beside you and watch whatever’s playing on the TV. Lay my head on your shoulder while you pat my hair slowly, softly killing all of my worries. I want to see the smiles and hear the chuckles you offer my stupid jokes. There ain’t a love like yours, Mom. And sometimes, I can’t even believe how lucky I am to be the object of it. I’m a lucky guy, Mom, I am.

Sister, I’m going back home. Would you mind coming back too? I miss our fun; I want to hear your clear laughter resonate in our kitchen, again and again. Sister, I wonder, where have our deep talks gone? When did we stop gracing ourselves with heartfelt advice? I miss being your brother. I can see a place up ahead where our roads diverge, and I can see you rolling on your road that parts from mine, and while I know we can’t walk the same paths, I can’t help but be afraid. I fear we might get carried away on the wings of time and experience, I fear we both get to touch skies so different, so exalting that we forget about the big brother and the little sister we left behind, on the ground of our past. Sister I don’t want our love to become a ghost that haunts our future selves. We’ve lost enough already; we must not lose each other, ever. And if life gets bitchy and decides otherwise, if we must in fact lose one another, let it be for a short while only. May we always find our way back to each other’s heart. My arms will always be wide open for you, no matter how far you go, no matter how long we stay apart.

Father, I’m going back home. And if you wouldn’t have been such a fool, you would have done the same.