My father asked practical questions and I still cried later

Dear Delyara, I saw my father today. He asked how work was. If the car was okay. Whether I’d eaten. The usual things. It was fine. Ordinary. Nothing openly emotional. And later, when I got home, I cried. I think sometimes grief doesn’t come from cruelty. It comes from how close love gets to tenderness without fully becoming it. I know my father cares. I also know some part of me still wants a different language from him. Something softer. Something more direct. Something that says I see who you are becoming, not just whether you are functioning. Maybe some relationships stay full of love and longing at the same time forever.