There’s a phone in your pocket right now. Your parents’ numbers are probably saved in it. When was the last time you actually called them?
Not texted. Not sent a quick “thinking of you” message with a heart emoji. Actually picked up the phone, heard their voice, and talked for more than three minutes about something other than logistics.
We tell ourselves we’re busy. We are busy. There are deadlines and meetings and errands and a thousand small fires that need putting out every single day. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: we make time for what matters to us. We find thirty minutes to scroll through social media, to watch another episode, to do one more thing that feels urgent but isn’t really important.
Meanwhile, our parents are getting older. Every single day, without exception, they’re getting older. And one day, without warning, the opportunity to call them will be gone. Not someday far in the future. Someday that could be sooner than we want to imagine.
Think about what your parents remember. They remember the weight of you as a baby, the sound of your first words, every scraped knee they bandaged, every fever they worried through in the middle of the night. They remember things about you that you’ve completely forgotten about yourself. They remember who you were before you became who you are.
And what do they want now? Not much. They want to hear your voice. They want to know you’re okay. They want to feel like they still matter in your life, like they’re not just people you check in on out of obligation but people you actually want to talk to.
If you live close enough, there’s something else you should do: hug them. A real hug, not a quick pat on the back as you rush out the door. The kind of hug where you actually stop and hold on for a moment. The kind that says without words: I see you, I love you, I’m grateful you’re here.
Physical touch matters more as we age. Studies show it, but you don’t need studies to know it’s true. You can see it in how your mom’s face changes when you take her hand, in how your dad’s shoulders relax when you give him a proper embrace. We forget that our parents need affection too, that they miss being touched with tenderness and care.
Your parents aren’t perfect. Maybe they weren’t perfect when you were growing up. Maybe there are complicated feelings there, old wounds that haven’t quite healed. That’s real, and it matters. But if they’re in your life, if the relationship is intact enough that a call or a hug is possible, then the question becomes: what are you waiting for?
We wait for the right moment. We wait until we have more time, until life calms down, until we have good news to share or we’ve figured something out. But the right moment is just a moment. It’s now. It’s today.
Your parents don’t need you to have your life perfectly together. They don’t need a long conversation if you don’t have one in you. They just need to know you’re thinking of them. That in the chaos of your life, you carved out a few minutes to let them in.
So do it today. Right now, if you can. Call your mom. Call your dad. Tell them something small about your day. Ask them something about theirs. And if you can, the next time you see them, give them a real hug. Hold on just a second longer than usual.
Because someday you’ll wish you could make that call one more time. Someday you’ll ache for one more hug. The gift of now is that you still can.Don’t wait.
