When Life Feels Heavy, We Still Look for Our Parents

I was driving back to Islamabad with my uncle.

He had to be there because of something difficult he has been carrying for a while. His government job is at stake, and because of injustices in the system, there is not much we can do right now except hope that things work out and that the right people are held accountable.

Before leaving the city, he asked me to take him to the graveyard so he could visit his father’s grave. My grandfather.

We went there. He prayed for his father for a while, stood quietly by the grave, perhaps trying to speak to him through his heart, and then we continued our journey.

That moment stayed with me.

It made me realise that a father is someone a person turns to in their deepest moments of helplessness. Whether he is alive or not, when life becomes heavy, you still look for him.

If he is alive, there is comfort in knowing that someone has your back.

If he is gone, you visit his resting place, pray for him, and somehow leave a little lighter.

I do not know if there is a lesson in this.

But that moment quietly reminded me how deeply we continue to seek our parents, especially in the moments when we feel most helpless.