I will celebrate Eid al-Fitr this year with different customs. I don’t prepare a lot of food and cakes. No new clothes. No new utensils. This year’s Eid al-Fitr will be very minimalist. I have left behind a cheerful and warm Eid.

Instead, I spend more time praying and doing other good deeds during Ramadhan.

Finally, I have reached a point where Eid al-Fitr feels ordinary. It doesn’t need to be exaggerated; Eid al-Fitr is simply one day at the end of Ramadan.

Without my two children and their families, our house becomes very quiet.

Loneliness will be part of me in the future. This makes me think, what will I use this abundant time for?

The children have their activities. They are competing to achieve their future. I will not ask them to sacrifice their future to live with me. That’s not fair for them.

I must say this; my husband and I will be the past for our children. We have to accept this and be prepared.

My friends, do you feel the same way when your children grow up and no longer live with you? How do you cope with it?