Reflection on the Fate of Family

What does growing up in a family teach you?

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With time, I started to realize that certain fates in life are inevitable.

To be in kinship by birth in this life — parents and children, brothers and sisters, implies that with every step taken, we are fated to drift apart farther and farther. We started off close but eventually end up at different terminals.

The journey of a son — like me, is no different than chasing the back of my parents. One corner after another, I traversed the floorplan of schools, the map of cities, and the labyrinth of life realities. I thought I would unite with my parents when I learned to be an adult just like they are. I thought we would have more common interests and topics for conversation. But we drifted only farther.

Despite trying to close the distance, at a round table, one reunion after another, eventually, I still lost them at their shadows. What started out as holding my tiny hands daily ended up as waving my big, roughened hands sparingly. It seems inevitable.

Such is the fate of this life contract called family. As an ecologist, my life revolves around the globe (because I find too many things genuinely interesting), but that also means I call no place a permanent home. I find families in different corners of the world…