Proud of You

This one is dedicated to all the wonderful people here who have been courageous in life while selflessly taking care of others.

Proud of You

“Hi, how are you?” he asked me.

“I’m good,” I replied. “And I owe it to you.”

“Thank you,” he said. 

“Didn’t quite turn out as you expected, isn’t it?” I asked.

“Well, I wouldn’t exactly say that,” he replied. “Priorities, personality, and situations kept changing. We adjusted accordingly.”

“Remember the dreams and aspirations from college days?”

“Yes,” he smiled. “Some of them did come true!”

“A few, yes,” I replied. “But I messed up on a lot of them.”

“Come on now, don’t be so harsh on yourself,” he reassured. “Situations were challenging, but you endured. I am proud of you!”

My eyes welled up with tears.

“You held on, to as many dreams as you could, while looking after people and relationships.”

“Are you sure I did well?” I asked, wiping my tears.

“Yes, I am sure,” he said. “Your resilience and persistence over the years is something I admire. I never had that!”

“I am sure you did and I got it from you,” I replied.

“I would say I had the seeds, but over the years you nourished and nurtured them to become trees.”

I felt better hearing that. 

“As teenagers we have lofty dreams, aspirations, and unrealistic expectations from life. We think the world will welcome us and embrace us. Once out of college, reality bites. It’s not as rosy as it was on the other side of the college gate. Some friends lose touch and others don’t manage to catch up for a long time. Shoulders are burdened by responsibilities, personal and professional. Friendly gossip is replaced by office politics. Friends replaced by colleagues and suddenly the heart suddenly finds itself alone in a crowd,” he said. 

“You fulfilled your responsibilities well. You endured the challenges to remain true to yourself and still managed to hold on to those precious friendships and some of those dreams too. I am so proud of you,” he said once again.

I smiled once again, feeling good about myself. He turned around and started walking away.

“Wait,” I called. 

He turned around. 

“What should I do now?” I asked him. ‘Exuberance of youth would be able to answer,’ I assumed.

“Be true to yourself. Hold on to those dreams. Do something that makes your future self proud of you, just like I am proud of you,” said by teenage self. “And one more thing. Start living a little more for yourself now.”

“Can you do that for us?” came a voice from behind. 

We turned around to find my future self standing there. I remained silent.

“I am counting on you and he is looking up to you!” he said.

“Yes,” said my younger self. “Make me proud.”

“Indeed,” said my future self. “And make me happy!”

“I will,” I replied. “I will not let both of you down.”

Tears welled up in my eyes. I wiped my tears and found both of them had disappeared. I vowed, that day, to fulfil the promise I made to both of them.