You can love someone
and still feel far from them.
A parent who sacrificed everything—
but never said “I’m proud of you.”
A child who just wanted to be understood—
but learned to stay silent to keep the peace.
Sometimes the gap isn’t lack of love.
It’s language.
It’s culture.
It’s personality.
It’s time.
Immigrant parents who showed love through work.
Through food.
Through protection, not affection.
Raised by war, by lack, by survival…
not softness.
Children raised in another world—
one that asks for expression,
connection,
conversation.
And the two meet in the same kitchen,
but speak two different emotional dialects.
One says: “I worked hard so you’d never struggle.”
The other thinks: “I would’ve traded comfort for closeness.”
Neither is wrong.
Both are carrying stories they didn’t choose.
But here’s where the healing starts:
in noticing.
In saying what was never said.
In hearing what was always meant, but never voiced.
You don’t have to bridge the entire gap.
But maybe… you can meet somewhere in the middle.
Love isn’t always loud.
But it can still be felt—
if we’re willing to listen beneath the silence.
That’s the Cushy way.
