I Love You

NaBloPoMo Day 1 – When was the last time you said I love you?

I say ‘I love you’ quite a lot to certain people. I tell my husband every day, along with my Mum and my two cats. I even tell my recently departed Dad that I love him, even though he’ll never hear me.

Do I think saying it a lot detracts from its meaning? Not at all. I used to think that way, back when my husband and I were just boyfriend and girlfriend and he said that he didn’t like saying ‘I love you’ every day because it felt like it was losing meaning and becoming to common. I obliged, I mean come on, I had a boyfriend and I wanted to keep him. Then, I saw the film Love, Actually. If you’ve not seen it, it’s a lovely (pun, herp) film. Daniel (played by underrated genius Liam Neeson) is recently bereaved having lost his wife to a long illness. At some point he says “I should have told her I love her every day, because she was perfect every day”.

Alright, it’s a soppy-assed sentiment that practically oozes saccharine gunge all over your brain. But think about it – life really is precious and as a recently bereaved person I know all too well how very suddenly life can be snatched away and you’re left wandering this world with a sense of dazed confusion, hoping that the deceased knew how you really felt. Of course chances are they do know, but if you tell them every day then they’re going to know for sure, right? Ok, so I’m sounding full of doom. I don’t mean to, but saying ‘I love you’ on a daily basis doesn’t change the meaning of the words. Sometimes we say it playfully – when one of my cats curls up on my chest purring softly and pawing at my face and I say “nawww… I love you…yes I do..mummy loves you” (diagnosis: crazy cat lady). Sometimes our partners will say something really daft that has you in stitches and you feel warmth and flooded with appreciation so you say “I do love you”. Other times there are moments of despair when you feel as though things around you are falling apart, and one person says “I love you” and things are a little brighter.

So, looping back to the original question, I last said those three little words this morning as my husband left for work. I was a little bit sleepy, so I probably slurred my words and sounded only marginally sincere, but I said it and meant it. And I know he meant it too.

Ain’t love grand?