At the end of May, I had the rare opportunity to spend a few hours — spread across two days — with my Mum. Just the two of us. No distractions, no background noise of family life, no multitasking parent mode. Just a simple moment of being present. Honestly, I can’t remember the last time something like that happened.

We talked. About everything and nothing. Politics (the Polish elections were a big topic), raising kids, education, siblings, family, the usual day-to-day stuff you only realize matters once you slow down long enough to really notice it.

What made it special was the space — space to speak and to be heard. I had time to share my view on things, and Mum had time to respond. We bounced thoughts back and forth about raising children — me now being fully involed in this, and her reflecting on those wild parenting years from the other side.

I grew up thinking friends were the people you choose, and family — well, they’re kind of assigned. I’ve always had a wide circle of friends and never really understood the idea of limiting your life mostly to relatives. Don’t get me wrong, I have a good family. They come with different views, different ideas about the world, and that’s fine. We might not see each other every weekend, or even every month — and that’s okay.

Back then, when I was a kid, we’d see relatives every other day. Life felt smaller and more connected. And during our ride, I told my Mum that I didn’t mind how things have changed — that having looser family bonds isn’t automatically a problem.

She nodded and agreed, but then she gave me a few glimpses of her youth. About what it was like fifty years ago when families were big and tangled up together in everyday life. Sharing rooms, sharing chores, picking berries, chasing butterflies. Their lives were connected. They learned together, helped each other out. You made your brother’s bed, and he brought home sweets in return.

Now? Everyone’s scattered. The arguments are louder, and people less willing to find common ground. She wonders when it all changed.

She told me some stories about their life I’ve never heard before. Nothing fancy, just regular days stuff. But it helped me to appreciate my Mom even more and realize (again), that the quality of life improved dramatically. In their times, her parents had one day during a week where they went out, visited one person in the village who had the TV and they watched it. Hard to imagine in our always connected world with Youtube, where we need to limit the time in front of the screen:)

Through all our talk, one pattern kept showing up like a chorus: When you have the chance — widen your horizons.

Learn new things. Meet new people. Ask why. Ask how. Get curious. Try new food. Try new experiences. Travel. Observe. Reflect. Repeat.

Sometime during our time together, I felt a wave of nostalgia roll in. A quiet one. The kind you feel not for what is gone, but for what you’re lucky to still have.

A meaningful conversation. With a beautiful human. My mother.

💙