I still want a softer version of them

Dear Delyara, I understand my parents more than I did when I was younger. That does not fully cancel the longing. Some part of me still wants them to become softer, more emotionally aware, more able to meet me outside old roles and assumptions. I know adulthood involves accepting the limitations of the people who raised you. I also know acceptance does not erase want. I can be realistic and still wish. I can know better and still ache. That is the part of being someone’s child I don’t think fully ends.