As I get older, phrases like “you’ve changed,” “you don’t care anymore,” and even “you’ve become arrogant” no longer hurt the way they once did. Some people call me arrogant. Others call me easy-going. Both can be true. Growing older has taught me that not everyone needs access to the same version of me.
An apology is not a transaction. Saying sorry does not make you morally superior, and someone who needs time to forgive you is not the villain. Because an apology may be owed. Forgiveness never is.
You still have her number in your phone. You still like her posts sometimes. But you haven't really spoken in two years. No fight. No reason. Just a slow drift — and the particular loneliness that comes with it.
We often confuse love with protection. But constantly rescuing people from the results of their own behavior can keep them dependent, careless, and emotionally immature.
Caregiving is work. Cognitive, emotional, logistical, physical. But in most families, and especially in India, it is treated as something else entirely: love, duty, devotion. Those things may also be true. But the fact that caregiving is love does not make it less exhausting.
For most of human history, marriage was not primarily about love. It was a social, economic, and family institution designed to provide stability, continuity, and support. Today, however, we expect marriage to deliver romance, friendship, emotional fulfillment, financial security, co-parenting, personal growth, and lifelong happiness, often all from a single person.
