Mom notes · 28 October 2026

For the Mom Celebrating Festivals Far From Home

No grandparents down the road. No street lit up. Just you, trying to make it feel like the festivals you grew up with. I see you.

It's lonely sometimes, no?

You remember the noise. The relatives. The sweets arriving at the door every hour. The cousins. The chaos.

Here, it's a quiet apartment and a video call where everyone talks at once and nobody can hear.

But I keep reminding myself of one thing. Our kids are growing up with their own version of these festivals. And we're building it, right now. The diyas on the balcony. The one sweet we always make. The song that plays every year.

That's not a smaller version of home.

It's theirs.

So light the diya anyway. Call the family. Make too much food. It counts. It all counts.

If you need a starting point: feel at home this Diwali, even far away.