25/05/2026
The most pivotal relationship in most people’s lives is that between a parent and child. It’s the thing that changes you most, realigns your values, changes the way you look at things, and changes your life in such a monumental way that your life becomes two sections of ‘before kids’ and ‘after kids’. This relationship isn’t only one way - the bond between a baby and its parents, or the people raising it, is unmatched by any other relationship formed. The child is totally reliant on its caregiver, unable to offer anything of value, and yet the parent has a love for their child which is stronger than any other love felt before, an unconditional love which is happy simply just to be in the presence of the child, able to transform any mood into pure elation any time they are together. That bond, that closeness, that feeling of love is purely natural - it's the way we were designed to give and receive from our first parent, our heavenly Father... (taken from "Hello? Part Two", © 2026 Bradley Leighton, Mar 19, https://bleighton.substack.com/p/hello-part-two)
