Turning eighteen is more than just a number,it is a milestone, a mix of excitement, responsibility, and self-discovery. This year marks your first steps into adulthood: celebrating your birthday, tackling important exams, and embracing your right to vote.
The house is the same.
Time is not.
I see you at three:
head on our hands,
calm, trusting, certain.
Food was a battle;
love the only truce.
When your brother came,
grandparents, great-grandmother
offered dishes of every taste,
every texture,
each one a quiet promise.
You fight like Tom and Jerry,
love like anchors.
Every chase, every prank, every laugh
stronger than any quarrel.
One year abroad.
New classrooms.
New voices.
You adapted.
No fuss.
No fear.
Strength quietly carried home.
Rhythm and motion-
basketball and mridhangam,
the joy of travel,
the pulse of stillness
you found yourself
between movement and calm.
If I feel sick,
you quietly prepare hot water,
sometimes with jeera,
letting your care speak louder than words.
Adulthood arrives softly.
Not suddenly.
But gently.
Your empathy comforts me:
the noticing, the kindness,
the quiet way you hold the world.
Eighteen is not an ending.
It is a beginning.
The roads will widen.
My hands will no longer be home.
And yet....
love remains.
Always.
May this post remind you of the young adult you’ve become, inspire you to embrace every challenge, celebrate every joy, and always step forward with confidence and heart.
With all my love,
Amma.
