Realizing this left me emotional in a completely different way than I expected. What I once saw as a simple habit was actually his effort to hold onto the people he loved while he still could. He wasn’t just greeting me; he was memorizing me, storing those moments as carefully as possible before his memories faded further.
Now, whenever I think of him, I picture his soft smile and the way he squeezed my hands, as if saying goodbye long before either of us knew it would be necessary. And I understand that sometimes, love shows itself in quiet routines that children don’t fully recognize until they grow up.
