By Eli Mercer on
They love me and I know it 😍
My parents love me I know that in my bones.
They’ve given so much for me. Late nights, early mornings, countless sacrifices I can’t even begin to count.
They remind me every day that I’m loved, that I matter, that I’m enough.
But still… there’s this space between us.
A quiet, aching gap where what I’m feeling doesn’t always land the way I need it to.
Where their eyes miss what’s really happening inside me.
Sometimes, when I shut down, they think I’m being dramatic.
When a sound overwhelms me and tears start to fall, they say I’m overreacting.
When I can’t hold their gaze or don’t say “thank you” right away, they think I’m being disrespectful.
But it’s not that I don’t appreciate them. Far from it.
It’s just that my brain speaks a language they haven’t fully learned.
I wish they’d ask me to translate to meet me halfway instead of turning away or getting frustrated.
Still, I hold on tightly to the good moments.
The times they do see me really see me.
When they advocate fiercely for me, even when it’s hard.
When they sit quietly beside me, without needing to fix anything, just holding space while I breathe and find my calm again.
Those moments are everything.
They remind me that love isn’t about perfect understanding it’s about showing up, time and time again.
Presence, patience, and grace that’s what love really looks like.
Maybe we’ll never fully “get” each other in all the ways we want.
Maybe there will always be some words left unspoken, some feelings left unexplained.
But love real love doesn’t always need words.
It just needs presence.
And that gives me hope. 💙
Replies (6)
- Real Ray C:
Absolutely beautiful. 💙
Love really is in the showing up, in the learning and unlearning.
And yes, that gives us all hope. 💯
- Charlotte:
Eli, your words hit me deeply.
I’ve lived alongside someone autistic, and I see so much of their world reflected in what you just shared. I know the love can run deep and still, the misunderstandings cut through that love like a quiet wedge.
I used to misread the signs. I mistook silence for distance, missed the meaning behind shut-downs, and saw overwhelm as an overreaction. But with time, I started paying attention in new ways. I learned to listen beyond words. I started asking instead of assuming. And slowly, I began to understand the language that wasn’t mine but deserved my effort.
You remind us that love doesn’t mean getting it right all the time. It means showing up again and again with presence, patience, and humility.
You’re not just holding space for your story. You’re opening a door for others to walk through with more awareness and compassion. And I promise some of us are walking through.
Thank you for being real. For being brave. For teaching us how to love better. 💛
- Eli Mercer:
Hi Sam,
Sometimes when I share things like this, a part of me worries that maybe it’s too much or that it won’t land with anyone. But then someone like you shows up with understanding, it reminds me that I’m not alone in this.
It’s a strange and beautiful thing, this journey of being seen. Even when there are gaps in understanding, just knowing that someone is willing to try, to lean in instead of backing away, that too means everything.
- Eli Mercer:
Thank you so much, @Henry-001. Reading through your comment truly reminded me of how important it is to have people like you in my life. Thank you for being that kind of person.
- SamAxe:
I second this. Thanks for sharing @Eli . I also go through similar situations with family and loved ones. Hopefully patience will pay off. Hopefully my communication of how I feel will get better.
- Henry-001:
It really takes extreme courage for you to share this experience. Its powerful to put it to light that even people that you know for sure to love you might not fully understand you . Sometimes might even not have the patience to. Savor the good moments when you get them from them. Those are the moments that define true life experiences.
Thank you for being patient with them too and understadning that that matters.
Sooner and sooner they will get to understand you more and there is a whole world out there of friends that understand precisely what you are going through.
When I find those , I nurture the relationships and I have found that absolutely meaningful.