Ryan Zofay

A few weeks later, he's gone.

It's crazy.

It's like those what if moments you just replay over in your head.

Yeah.

Because we were like not really talking as much at the time.

Sure.

And how do you think that affects you today?

From that day on, I called my mom every single day, tell her I love her.

But I grew up in a similar environment to you where those words were never spoken, never got a hug, never got a pat on the back.

So it was just tough love.

They showed it through action, I guess.

They never told you.

So I didn't know if they loved me or not, to be honest, when I was growing up.

Now, looking back, I realize they did a lot of things out of love.

But when you're a kid, you see these movies and you think love is saying it and hugging you and kissing you on the head or whatever.

Yeah, for sure.

It's interesting because during those formative years of our lives, our caretakers, they're responsible for nurturing us.

They're responsible for caring for us and giving us the healthy attunement and really paying attention to our needs.

And so before your brain can really even develop its own thoughts and understanding of what's going on, we have these sensations and these feelings.

And if you had a parent that was yelling at you all the time or was avoiding you all the time, that built this void, this feeling of like not good enough, this feeling of like, why aren't I important?