When Bucci Franklin advised people during a recent interview to reach out to their parents “whether they are useless or not,” the statement instantly sparked reactions online.
Some people laughed.
Some people argued.
Others felt deeply uncomfortable with how blunt it sounded.
But if we are being truthful, beneath those harsh words was a painful reality many people do not like to confront.
Time does not wait for broken relationships to heal.
We live in a generation where everybody is busy trying to survive. People barely have time for themselves anymore, talk less of consistently checking on their parents. Many only call home when they need something or when there is a family emergency. Some have become emotionally distant because of unresolved childhood pain. Others are simply caught up in the endless cycle of adulthood, work, bills, and personal struggles.
And yes, not every parent was good.
That is the uncomfortable part of this conversation many people are afraid to admit openly.
Some parents failed their children emotionally. Some were absent. Some created trauma that their children still carry into adulthood. Some relationships between parents and children are deeply complicated.
But despite all of that, death has a cruel way of changing perspective.
The anger people carry while their parents are alive sometimes transforms into unbearable regret once those parents are gone.
That is why Bucci Franklin’s comment hits harder than many want to admit.
Because there are people today who would give anything just to hear their mother’s voice one more time.
There are people who ignored calls they can never return again.
People who postponed visits that never happened.
People who assumed there would always be another Christmas, another birthday, another opportunity to fix things later.
Until later never came.
One of the saddest realities of life is that many people do not fully appreciate their parents until absence forces them to.
A parent can annoy you endlessly while alive, yet their silence after death becomes deafening.
And perhaps that is the point Bucci Franklin was trying to make.
Not every parent deserves worship. Not every relationship can be magically repaired overnight. But for many people, pride, distance, busyness, and stubbornness are creating emotional gaps that may someday become permanent regrets.
Sometimes, parents do not even need grand gestures.
They just want presence.
A random phone call.
A quick visit.
A moment of laughter.
Simple things that seem ordinary now but become priceless memories later.
The older many parents get, the lonelier they quietly become. Their children grow up, relocate, get married, become busy, and move on with life while they sit waiting for conversations that become less frequent every year.
And the painful thing about life is this: it rarely gives warnings before taking people away.
One day, your parent is calling too much.
The next day, you are desperately wishing your phone would ring with their number again.
That kind of grief changes people forever.
Which is why, difficult as it may sound, Bucci Franklin’s comment carries an important truth. While parents are still alive, there is still room for conversations, forgiveness, laughter, effort, and presence.
Because once death enters the picture, all that remains are memories, regrets, and unanswered emotions.
And sometimes, the parent you struggled to deal with becomes the same person you spend the rest of your life missing.