I just returned from my friend's funeral. His death was not unexpected but the news still carried a shock. The speakers who chose to memorialize his life were very good. They knew him intimately, spoke with great love and conviction, and were moving. I sat there, listening and getting choked up and I began to think, gee, I hope they told him how they felt about him while he was alive. I hope he knew how much his friends loved him and appreciated him. Now we got the title of this post. I think we may all be guilty of not telling the people around us how we feel about them. I know I am. I also know how awkward it can feel to tell someone that you love them and that you appreciate them. Nonetheless, better to hear it alive then at the funeral.
My kids know they are loved. Sometimes my daughter just climbs up into my lap on her own, because she feels like sitting in my lap, and I'll say to her: "Hey, do you think you can just climb up into my lap whenever you want!" And she'll reply, "yes". I'll ask her why she thinks that and, without fail, she responds: "Because you love me".
So my wish today is that you, gentle reader, go and tell someone dear to you how much you love them.
Posted by Random Penseur at September 17, 2004 12:31 PMi am going to call my mom
thanks RP
I am sorry about your friend, Random. Death is always a shaker-upper, isn't it? Like divorce, it scares us and reminds us how precious and fragile the world we love can be. {{{{{hugs}}}}}
Posted by: Amber at September 17, 2004 03:14 PMThis brings tears to my eyes as I read and type. I told one of my best friends this morning that I love her and i will get to tell my friend who is dying that I love her shortly when we chat. The best news was that i to tell my Mother I loved her before she died.
Here is to Love!!
Thanks, y'all.
Posted by: RP at September 18, 2004 05:07 AMI guess we'll always wonder if we tell each other enough how much we love each other. We don't always say it out loud, but, I believe, we're good at saying it in so many other ways.
I don't wonder if my friends know that I love them. They know I do just as much as I know that they love me. We don't have to struggle to say it aloud to know it... it's obvious that we love each other by the very fact that we're frickin' friends!
But, we do need to know it. An unknowing doubt may bring about curiousity... emptiness. Hopefully, absent words, the obviousness of our love will always fill in the blanks.
I really believe that we know when we're loved and don't need to be told in so many words.
But it's always nice to hear anyway!
Girlchild: Because you love me!
Have I mentioned lately that I just love you guys?!
Posted by: Tuning Spork at September 19, 2004 10:42 PM