To all the children who have been separated, forced away from a parent.
I want to tell you something simple, but essential: follow what your heart tells you.
Don’t just listen to the thousand words of adults, to the complicated reasoning of social workers, or the angry voice of someone who’s forgotten what love is. You already know what’s right. You know it better than anyone.
Don’t let anyone decide for you, using some abstract formula, what is supposed to be in your best interest.
Yesterday, my ten-year-old daughter gave me a lesson in humanity. From a distance, she saw me. She hesitated for a moment. Then she threw a kiss into the air. A small gesture. But immense.
That gesture was forbidden. They had told her in every possible way. She had been told not to do it. That it wasn’t allowed. That the judge, the mother, the law—
But she followed her heart.
And in that moment, I found meaning again. In that gesture, I understood that you children are better than the adults around you. You carry inside a compass that no decree can silence. You are the ones who can make things change. You are the ones who can bring this hypocritical system to its knees. With a kiss. With a smile. With a hug that may not be allowed, but is full of love.
That’s why I’m writing. To tell you: never stop loving. Don’t let anyone convince you that what you feel is wrong. Don’t believe those who want to silence your voice.
One day, when you’re older, you’ll understand everything. But even today, you already teach us more than we ever taught you.
I saw you.
From afar.
Uncertain eyes.
A kiss thrown into the air.
You walked slowly toward me.
You knew that gesture was forbidden.
They had told you in every way.
But you followed your heart.
It lasted only a few seconds.
Then — a voice.
Harsh.
Hysterical.
In a language that leaves no room for doubt:
“Иди дома.”
“Go home.”
The end.
But those few seconds
were enough
to give me hope again
that it is possible —
and necessary —
to resist.
With all the love I still have,
a father.