Those we called the little ones

Those we once called the little ones have grown now. Despite the fact that they have become teenagers or adults even, in our eyes, they are still children. It’s strange, isn’t it? Those of us with younger siblings and cousins of our own know this feeling all too well.

Is it because we watched their first steps? Heard their first words? Or is it because their growth happened too gradually for us to notice until one day, they were taller, wiser, different - but still, somehow, the same?

When we look at old photos, we are reminded of how little they once were. We see in them the little one who used to run to us for comfort or approval. It’s in the way they avoided eye contact and stumbled over their words when guilt weighed on them, nervously confessing after breaking something. It’s in the way they tilted their head when they were shy. We remember the way they threw tantrums, running around in frustration when the world didn’t go their way, or how tightly they clung to our hand when they don't us to leave.

Time may have shaped them into adults, but for us, they will always be the ones we once carried on our arms, the ones we soothed when they cried, and the ones we protected from a world that felt too big for them.

It’s not that we fail to see who they’ve become. We see their strength, their independence, and their growth, and we are proud. But in the quiet of our hearts, we can’t help but hold on to the children they were - the children who trusted us completely, who looked up to us with wide eyes, who found safety in our presence.

Both the adults they’ve become and the children they used to be live together in our minds. No matter how far they go, how much they change, to us, they remain our little ones.