When we are younger, we want to be independent; it’s part of acquiring autonomy as a toddler and it seeps into our teenage years..

All we want to do is hang out with our friends, and “would rather die” than be seen with our family. You’d be considered “uncool” when you were younger if you would want to hang out with them. But now that we are older, there are those of us who seem to value our families.

As we enter adulthood, we seem to understand what it is to have our family with us. Especially when young adults leave for college, and they don’t have their families with them, it can be hard. For some, leaving for college is the best thing to ever happen to them, because they are “free,” and don’t have to listen to anyone but themselves. For some, it is something they have to adjust to; because let’s be honest, living in a room with a stranger you’ve never met before can be a bit intimidating.

For many of us, we seem to become closer to our family members as we enter an older age, and appreciate them more day by day. It can be lonely going to a brand new school, especially if you’ve just moved to a new state for school. You are literally being thrown into a pool of thousands of students you don’t know, and an area you are still getting used to. At time like this, it can be really hard, so most students will take the time to make a phone call, FaceTime, or send a text message to their loved ones back at home.

Being away from your family can be a very difficult time, and when given the chance to see them, you take the time out of your day so you can see them. “The parent-child relationship is one of the most long-lasting and emotionally intense social ties. Although often positive and supportive, this tie also includes feelings of irritation, tension, and ambivalence,” according to Luescher & Pillemer.

For those of us who do not commute to school, going back home during summer or winter break is the time where we will go back home to visit their families, and return to a comfortable atmosphere. We can reconnect with our parents, and go back to school for the start of a new semester. Naturally, there may be some heated discussions over who gets to carve the ham, but we still love our parents.

When we are younger, we want to leave the nest so badly, but when we mature and get older, we then realize how important family really is.

It may have felt that we were stuck in a place that we couldn’t leave when we were growing up, and when we were able to leave we took the chance. However, many of us still appreciate Mom doing our laundry or Dad patting us on the back when we get home.

If you are not one of us with close family ties and instead want to leave the house or town so badly, spend some time with your family because maybe then you will realize how much family means to you.

You never know when you may need them.