Children have a way of seeing life with a clarity adults often lose. We go through the world thinking we guide them — but then, just when we least expect it, they say something that reminds us they understand far more than we give them credit for. I learned that lesson during one of the darkest chapters of our lives.

My little brother was only four when he was diagnosed with leukemia. For months, we lived in hospital hallways and under fluorescent lights, watching hope drip away like the IV bags beside his bed. Doctors softened their voices, my mother tried to be strong, and he grew quieter — as if he already knew more about endings than any child ever should. One night, when my mom finally broke down at his bedside, he gently patted her back, the way she always did for him, and whispered, “It’s okay, Mom. I’m not scared. I just don’t want you to be sad.”

Mom told me later she felt the whole world shift with those words — like her tiny boy had become the protector. Children who face illness grow older in their hearts long before their birthdays catch up. But life had one more surprise for us: against all odds, he improved. Slowly, impossibly, he fought his way back. The day the doctors told us he was responding to treatment felt like breathing again after nearly drowning. Ten years later, he’s still in remission — living proof that miracles sometimes come wrapped in small hands and quiet courage.

And since then, I never underestimate what children feel before the world explains things away. Like when my friend’s three-year-old pointed at her belly and announced, “You’re having a baby,” before anyone knew she was pregnant. Days later, after a silent heartbreak she thought only she carried, he simply said, “Oh… no more baby,” and hugged her without a word. Kids see hearts, not facts — and sometimes, they understand what we cannot say out loud.