Ashes in the Light

The last movie that made me cry was Dear You.

I watched it during my recent trip to Melaka. It had limited screenings in Singapore, so when we had the opportunity to watch it there, we did.

I wasn’t quite expecting it to stay with me the way it did.

Without giving too much of the story away, I think what affected me most was how much of the movie revolved around things left unsaid.

Words that perhaps should have been spoken.

Feelings that were there, but never properly expressed.

Things we assume the other person already knows.

And all the what ifs that come afterwards.

What if I had said something?

What if I had asked?

What if I had listened a little more carefully?

What if we had simply been more honest with each other?

There is something painfully human about that.

I think we’re all guilty of leaving things unsaid sometimes.

Maybe we think there will always be another opportunity.

Maybe we’re afraid of how the other person will respond.

Maybe pride gets in the way.

Or perhaps we simply don’t realise how important those words are until the moment to say them has already passed.

And that’s probably why Dear You made me cry.

Not because the story was necessarily mine.

But because the feeling was familiar.

That quiet ache of knowing how differently things might have turned out if two people had simply said what they needed to say.

It reminded me that communication isn’t only about speaking.

It’s about saying the things that matter while we still have the chance.

Thank you.

I’m sorry.

I miss you.

I’m proud of you.

I love you.

Stay.

Sometimes they are only a few words.

But left unspoken, they can become something much heavier.

Perhaps that’s what stayed with me most after the movie ended.

We spend so much of our lives assuming there will always be another conversation.

Another dinner.

Another phone call.

Another tomorrow.

But sometimes, there isn’t.

So maybe the words sitting quietly in our hearts deserve to be spoken a little more often.

Even when they’re difficult.

Even when they’re awkward.

Even when we think the other person already knows.

Because sometimes, what we don’t say can stay with us far longer than what we do.