Dear Whomever This May Concern,

What is your worst fear? For most teenagers and children, the answer would be losing a parent. Losing a parent makes one feel empty, whether it's your mother or your father. Coming from a female standpoint, after losing my father, I now know that I will never be loved by another male as much as my father loved me; I was his baby girl. I'm sure it's the same for a male losing a mother and also a male/female losing either parent.

Here is why people that lost a parent differ from people with both parents left. People who have lost a parent know the pain of not knowing what it's like to live a normal life because as children, all we knew was having a mom and dad, but now that statement no longer stands. We take things to heart more than the average person, we have more breakdowns than normal because we at least find 100 things a day that remind us of that lost parent, certain words someone may say can stir up emotions because of how that parent may have said those words.

The smallest things make us upset. What really kills me still to this day at age 20, losing my father over a year ago is hearing a little kid say, "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" I know it sounds silly but that child just wants their father to be proud of them for whatever it is, whether it's just to say "hi" or to show him an accomplishment - that's what really hurts.

Everyone always says, "your father is proud of you" or "you're never alone, your dad is watching over you every second of every day" both of those are so true but when you lose a parent, that just doesn't satisfy. All we want is our lost parent to be here with us just so we can hear their voice once more, feel their embrace, or just to see them sitting in the next room. Heck, I can honestly say that the thing I miss most about my father is him yelling at me when I did something wrong because I knew that when I fix what I did wrong, he'd be happy with me again - it's the little things in life that count the most. Losing a parent due to natural causes is enough pain but losing a parent that had their healthy life cut short due to an external cause or cancer, etc, is just a bit worse because they suffer just a bit more.

Before you go and judge someone for having a little breakdown over nothing, sit back and think about what is either going on in their life or what had happened in their life for them to be so emotional to that certain subject. As mentioned, for being 20 and losing my dad over a year ago, I still to this day can't eat Chef Boyardi Meat and Cheese Raviolli because that was my dad's favorite thing to eat when he was sick. It's little things like that, that people should be aware of.

Losing a parent is never easy, from age 20 to age 60, our parents gave us life and if it weren't for them, we wouldn't be here- they were our first set of best friends. Here's a little note to end this, don't take anything or anyone for granted, especially your family, mainly your parents because one day, you won't have them to guide you anymore.

Sincerely,

Someone who has yet to find the light of losing a parent.