Your Mother-s Son -2023- đ„
But 2023 is teaching you that blood doesnât negotiate.
You donât realize youâre becoming him until the moment you already are.
Last spring, she handed you an old photograph: him at twenty-five, leaning against a car that no longer exists, smiling in a way that you now catch yourself smiling when no oneâs watching. âYou have his hands,â she said quietly. Not an accusation. Not a compliment. Just a fact, heavy as a stone dropped in still water. Your Mother-s Son -2023-
You are not him. You know this. You havenât run. You havenât raised your voice in angerânot like that. You show up. You call her every Sunday. You are trying.
And she stays anyway.
She noticed it first, of course. Your mother.
In 2023, the mirrors have sharp edges. You stand in front of one, razor in hand, and for a split secondâjust a flickerâyou see his jawline under yours. The same tired crease between the brows. The way you hold your coffee mug, thumb hooked over the rim like a man waiting for bad news. But 2023 is teaching you that blood doesnât negotiate
You used to swear youâd be nothing like him. The slammed doors. The silence that filled a room like smoke. The way he loved herâfierce, then fractured, then not at all. You built yourself in opposition: softer, louder with your feelings, quicker to say Iâm sorry . You thought love was a choice you could make differently.
Thatâs the part he never understood. Thatâs the part youâre only now learning to hold. âYou have his hands,â she said quietly
Itâs in the way you leave your socks on the floor, the same exact spot he did. The way you grumble at the news. The way you drive with one hand on the wheel and stare too long at the horizon. Last week, your mother laughed at something you said, then stopped. Her eyes went distant. âOh,â she breathed. Not a word. A door opening on a room she thought sheâd locked.
But hereâs the truth no one tells you: becoming your motherâs son means carrying the ghost of the man she once loved. And in 2023, with the world burning softly and time moving like a fever dream, you finally understandâyouâre not afraid of becoming him. Youâre afraid that you already are, and that maybe, just maybe, she sees him when she looks at you.