Aftersun

like any other major event, parenthood inevitably changes a person. It may not have seemed like it at the time, but those of us who got to peek into the people our parents were before, are lucky. I used to think I lacked a childhood due to being exposed to so many truths at an early age. “They're just kids” stung with a pain that only the existence of a hidden nostalgia, you knew was always there but never wanted to feel, can bring. I used to think that because I watched the teenagers from a distance, never being anything more than an outsider to them, yet pushing away other children because of a mental separation, I lacked a childhood. I know now, that even in those days there was a never-changing charm that lives only in my memory because my parents always tried. For this, I'm perpetually grateful.