I LOVE YOU – update
Last week I wrote an emotional (for me) post “I Love You.” The gist of this post was an explanation of my family’s culture regarding the use of those three words.
Some people felt sorry for me that my parents never said “I love you” to me. They missed the point. They never said the words; they said it in actions which left no doubt to me that I was loved.
Some people took exception with my assertion that when these words are used often, their meaning is diminished. That comment is aimed at the culture of MY family. Many people are raised believing that not saying “I love you” on a daily basis is a horrible thing. No argument here, I was just explaining that that is not my culture.
Finally I listed the people in my life and told each one that “I love you”… now don’t ask me again.
This got me in trouble with some people that I left out. I tried to keep it to immediate family, but I don’t want to hurt any feelings so:
To my new sister-in-laws Maryanne, Donna and Claudine – I love you all
To my nieces and nephews Alison, Jimmy, David, Chris, and Grant – I love you all
To all the children and spouses of the above – We hardly know each other, but I’m pretty sure I love you
To my new nieces – Nicole and Carly – I love you guys too
To my new brother-in-laws Mike and John and my new nephew Lenny – High five dudes!
To my oldest friends Frog and Asshead – If you need anything just ask
To Mrs. Cranky's Aunt Catherine who owns that beautiful house on the Jersey Shore - We really love you
To Mrs. Cranky's Aunt Catherine who owns that beautiful house on the Jersey Shore - We really love you
To anyone who regularly reads my blog…you too cousin Nils – I love you
There, that’s it. Enough…I’m a wasp for Christmas sake. Anymore of this and they’ll take away my stiff upper lip!
Your post is a great example of the downside of relying on words instead of actions to express your affection--someone will always feel left out. On the other hand, my dad never said he loved me. I assumed he did, but it would have been nice to hear it just once.
ReplyDeleteUmmmm...we wuv you too Mr. Cranky...
ReplyDeleteYou had it coming...
ReplyDeleteI read your first post and got the point. I meant to comment but just never got there. So here is my comment - better late than never. (I was too busy showing my kids that I love them by cleaning up, washing and ferrying them to football and dancing....)
ReplyDeleteI think it is easy to say I love you. But much harder to show it on a daily basis. Loving people, day in, day out in your actions and deeds is always more important than words.
Take care
I think I love you sometimes get dropped way to easily. I mean I watch some reality shows were people just met and their like "I love you". Really wtf we just met 10 minutes ago. I come from an Italian heritage we show each other how much we love but I never ever heard my parents say that to us. It was very common in my household to kiss each other cheeks until they fell off but I never heard an I love you. But I knew I was loved...
ReplyDeleteI had a similar situation growing up (well, not exactly) but those words were never said ...e-v-e-r! It's amazing how once I made the commitment in my adult life to be different I love you became part of our regular vocabulary and has remained that way. Great pot!
ReplyDeleteFound you on the Things we find inside hop. Hope you can stop by my blog and follow back.