Distance has been dominating many of my conversations this week: long distance relationships, distant career goals, and ‘going the distance’ for someone else.
But the one distance hard to overcome is that between parent and child. Doesn’t matter if we’re talking about a woman in her early thirties, it’s still not the done thing to tell your (Asian) parents you’re giving up solitude to move in and shack up with your significant other.
And parents are happy to allow their adult child to move across the ocean to live in the same city as her fiancé, but God forbid she go around the block and move into the same apartment before they’re married.
I wonder if this is all just a façade, both parties clearly aware of deception under the surface. Maybe, maybe not.
But as we spread out across countries, time zones, and languages—perhaps it’s time we expand our perspectives just as far?
As children, even if you’re 35, it’s time to brave that conversation with mum and dad and stop emptying your apartment of your girlfriend’s belongings every time they visit.
And parents, just because they live in separate buildings doesn’t necessarily mean they’re sleeping in different beds.
Is this a generational distance we’re prepared to bridge?
