Hi friends,
It occurred to me one chilly, November night (literally two days ago) that I was an ungrateful person. As always, my roommates and I were huddled around our living room at around 2 AM, talking, sipping some wine, and listening to music when someone had the bright idea to start watching YouTube videos on the TV. It started off funny- we watched old Nicki Minaj music videos and Disney channel stars’ interviews and laughed at the era’s fashion choices and simpler times. Then someone suggested that we watch Asian life insurance commercials and it got so sad, so fast.
I don’t know if y’all have ever seen these commercials, but if you haven’t please take the time to search them up, preferably when you’re not in a happy mood. They’re about 5 minutes long and feature daughters calling their fathers out for working too hard, a younger sister taking care of her older sister when she’s diagnosed with cancer- an ungrateful son leaving his mother because she can’t buy him the nicer things in life. While the premise of these commercials aren’t anything new, they do remind us to be grateful for the ones closest to you because:
- You never really know what they’ve had to sacrifice for you.
- Ultimately, they can be taken away from you at a moment’s notice.
The endless stream of tears got me thinking-
“Man, I really miss my mom and dad,”
which prompted me to text them blubbering words of love and appreciation in the middle of the night (don’t do this unless you want 8 missed calls and very concerned parents when you wake up in the morning). I started to realize that I don’t do this often enough, if at all. I’m Asian, so affection in my family and culture isn’t shown through words or even physical touch. It’s unspoken and after watching those sad Asian life insurance commercials, I realized how much I hate that custom. I realized that I needed to say, “I love you,” more to my parents and siblings. That I should hug and kiss them because those commercials are so incredibly right. Sometimes, when we’re used to the people around us, we forget to appreciate them and show them how much we appreciate them.
I think with Thanksgiving coming up that me saying this comes at a good time. We should learn to be more grateful every day- not just when we’re circled around a turkey or watching life insurance commercials.
So, friends, I hope you all have an incredible and restful Thanksgiving. With that break, if you want and are emotionally ready for the sadness, search up sad, Asian life insurance commercials on YouTube and tell me how much you cried- we’ll bond over it!
Always with love,
Delphi