Joys of Parenting
A parent's love is unique. It is the purest love that one can ever experience. Unfortunately, this type of love is a double-edged sword. When your children are young, they are excited to see you, invite you into their world, and make you part of their friend group. It can be the greatest joy one can ever experience. Usually, most of us experience this joy when our children are young. However, as children become teenagers and young adults, parents are sometimes unprepared for the emotional roller coaster.
Separation
As most of us know, adolescents and young adults rebel or leave home to separate from their families. It is healthy for children to move away from home or rebel to some extent to separate and become their own person. Unfortunately, some parents have to wait a few years, and the relationship returns to parent and adult child.
When Separation Turns to Estrangement
It is worth looking within to see what might have gone wrong. What might you have done differently? You can even apologize to your child. Many times, parents cannot figure out what has happened. Coping with pain is very difficult. It is like going through the grieving process of losing a child, one of the most challenging processes a parent can endure.
Resources for Help
Parents of Estranged Adult Children
https://www.facebook.com/groups/225104114672108/
Parents of Estranged Adult Children Moving Forward
https://www.facebook.com/groups/LifeafterEstrangement
As you said: "Coping with pain is very difficult. It is like going through the grieving process of losing a child, ..." but as long as we live we will try to fix things. Sometimes the unavoidable objective circumstances, which are not manageable caused missunderstanding and we hope all our life that we could relieve the consequnces and relieve the child from suffering.
My husband’s daughter is estranged from him, and it’s heartbreaking for him. He has a 13 year old granddaughter he’s never met. Thank you for the resources, I will show them to him. And I know that should help. I appreciate you putting this out there.