No One Warns You

No one really warns you.

Not in a way that sticks.

You hear it, of course - “Time goes fast. ”“Enjoy it while you can.”

“They won’t be here forever.”

But it never feels real.

Because your parents are just… there.

They’ve always been there. They always will be.

You don’t think about a world where they aren’t.

At some point, without realizing it, you start to assume something quietly:

That they’ll always be available. That you’ll always have time. That whatever you didn’t say or do, you’ll get to it later.

There’s always a “later.”

And then something shifts.

Not all at once. Not dramatically.

Just enough to make you notice.

They forget something small. They move a little slower. They take a little fall.

And you think—That’s strange.

But you don’t think—This is the beginning of the end.

Because even then, it still doesn’t feel real.

They’re still your parents.

Still the same people who raised you, helped you, showed up when you needed them.

So, your mind does what it always does:

It protects you.

It tells you there’s still time.

But here’s the truth no one really prepares you for:

Even if someone did warn you…

It wouldn’t matter.

Because this is one of those things you don’t understand until you’re inside it.

Until you’re sitting across from them, realizing something has changed.

Until conversations feel different.

Until the roles start to shift in ways you never expected.

Until you start to see - clearly, unmistakably -

that they won’t always be here.

And by then, something else changes, too.

Not just them.

You.

You start to notice moments more.

Small things you would’ve ignored before.

A conversation. A laugh. Even silence.

And there’s a quiet awareness underneath it all:

That none of this is permanent.

That it never was.

No one warns you in a way that makes you feel it ahead of time.

And maybe they can’t.

Because if they could -

you wouldn’t be able to live your life the same way.

So instead, we all move through it the same way:

Assuming there’s more time than there is.

Until one day, we realize, sadly -

there isn’t.

My dad is gone. And my mom is disappearing right in front of me.