Love is a funny thing. It fades in and out of our lives, like the crescendo and descendo of a symphony. Sometimes it evades us, try as we might to encounter it. At other times it wraps us up unexpectedly, with a power we forgot existed.
Like all humans, my kids have developed their own unique ways of sharing their love, beyond a simple I love you. For Nathan, it’s needing the last kiss and hug of the night to take place in his bed as he’s tucked in. It’s “I love you, even when I’m mad at you.” It’s somehow always moving closer to me at the dinner table, until his feet are inevitably on the lower rung of my chair. It’s wanting to spend every minute of every day, glued to my side in a joint activity. It’s the still asking for a kiss or a hug before he walks into school. For Adam, it’s a combination of the fiercest morning hugs and invisible air hugs at night. It’s “I’m keeping you, Mommy.” It’s the pig snort that currently accompanies the end of most sentences he utters. It’s playing in the other room, just far enough away to count as independence without being so far away that my immediate assistance can’t be acquired. It’s the chatterbox bursting forth of all the things in his head that steamrolls any words I might get in edgewise. For Lucas, it’s a grin that spreads ear to ear when I walk in a room. It’s a slobbery open mouthed kiss planted on my nose, my cheek, my shoulder, really any available real estate. It's falling asleep as we rock at the end of the day. It’s the crocodile slither crawl that leads to my legs being used as an aid to standing. It’s the ants-in-his-pants wild-man hug that smashes our faces together, encircles my neck, and wraps my hair in his death grip. All of this, and so much more, says I love you.
1 Comment
Haley Domin
3/9/2022 01:50:27 pm
I think it is so great that you recognize the way that everyone shows their love and needs love for themselves. It really goes to show that love manifests in different ways and is something that does not always look the same for everyone.
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March 2022
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