I love you.
I overheard someone say today “if the love is there, they will know it, there is no need to say it” and it got me thinking, is there a need to say it? At what age to children realize that the love is there no matter what we say? What about other people in our lives, adults, our friends or parents, do they need to hear those words? Why do we often only say these words in extraordinary moments – like hospital, boarding a plane or when someone is hurt ?
I say “I love you” to my children all day – all the time. When I hug them goodbye I say it and then say it one extra time. I also tell my husband that I love him at least once a day. But I hardly ever say it to anyone else. It does not mean I don’t love anyone else – and the more I think about it the more I realize that the reason I don’t say it is because for the most part the people I love most live very far away and thinking about how much I love them makes me think how much I miss them and then it makes me sad.
My children are still young enough to absolutely adore hearing these magical three words and often saying it right back. They don’t have any experience of the “I love you” in the extraordinary circumstances. My hope is that if we continue telling each other how much we love each other, then when the words become embarrassing or “yucky” they WILL just know that I love them…
Ariadne Brill
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