“… A son debases his father, a daughter rises up against her mother…” -Micah -7:6

The strongest bond that exists in nature is not between atoms, but between parent and child.

It transcend all geographical and temporal boundaries, as well as all species. Doubt that? Step between a grizzly and her cub.

On Bellevue’s psychiatric prison-ward, I encountered serial-killers who would unhesitatingly kill any human (including me) for any reason, or no reason, but remained devoted to their children. Beowulf to War and Peace to The Sopranos to Dune, villains, even hardened, remain ardent about Mama.

Why then the exploding phenomenon of adult-children going “No-Contact” with their parents? Parents know nothing about their children, or grandchildren.

Alternatively, some choose the “Gray-Rock” approach, sharing only essential information, i.e., be aware your grandchild graduated kindergarten, or, celebrated his bar mitzvah (but you weren’t invited), even more torturous.

This is often described as a “Divorce.”The metaphor is inaccurate. Couples who divorce were independent entities before choosing to unite. Newborns had no choice in the union. They aren’t even aware they are separate beings from Mama.

All parents feel “My child is a part of me.” When, tragically, they lose children, they wail: “I lost a part of me!”

When parents and children implode, it is not a divorce, but a literal disintegration, as devastating as an atomic bomb, when atomic bonds disintegrate.

It is even worse than a child dying since, in addition to losing a child, it has been “With prejudice”, I.e., the parent has been rejected by them.

But one example, 2023, a New York........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)