I'm 66 and I grew up in a house where my father worked sixty-hour weeks and never once told me he was proud of me - and I did the exact same thing to my sons before I realized the silence wasn't strength, it was a pattern I'd inherited like the color of my eyes - Silicon Canals

"Growing up without hearing certain words leads to the belief that those words don't exist. Love is shown through actions like working hard and providing, not through verbal affirmation."

"When I held my son in the hospital, I felt an overwhelming love but soon began to build the same emotional walls my father had. This was not intentional but a learned behavior."

A father worked tirelessly as a union pipefitter, providing for his family but never expressing pride in his son's achievements. This lack of verbal affirmation created a pattern that the son unknowingly replicated with his own children. He believed that love was demonstrated through actions rather than words, leading to a cycle of emotional distance. Despite his efforts to support his sons, he struggled to express the pride and affection he felt, perpetuating the belief that such expressions were unnecessary or absent in fatherhood.

Read at Silicon Canals