TOPIC TODAY Is On "Parents who never say, (I love you)" to their kids. Affection withheld can turn to hunger. Do you know your children’s favourite things, or just their school grades? Is your "toughness" a shield for your family, or a wall between you and them? The Big Question: If you knew today was the last time you’d speak to your loved ones, would you be satisfied with the last thing you said to them?
The Parents who never say"I love you" to their affectionate ones. Clinking of glasses at Evaking’s Bar usually signals a celebration, but today, the mood is reflective. Ola is staring at a photo of his own father - a man who worked three jobs to put Ola through school but never once sat him down to say, "I love you." "He was a good man," Ola says, his voice thick. "He never missed a school fee. He never left us hungry. But when I look at that photo, I don't feel warmth; I feel a strange, cold distance. I find myself doing the same with my kids - providing everything but saying nothing. Is 'I love you' just a word, or is it the food I’m actually starving them of?" Jennifer leans in, her expression softened by empathy. "Ola, you can feed a child’s stomach for a lifetime and still leave their soul emaciated. In trauma recovery, we call this the 'Hidden Wound.' It isn't about the blows that were landed, but the embrace ...