"I LOVE YOU"

Do you know what I LOVE??  People who say "I LOVE YOU" freely and without reservation.  They are everywhere lately.   

My friend, Sister Jones, ALWAYS signs her emails "I Love You, Pat"

My friend, Allie, has texted "I LOVE YOUs" ever since we first became friends last September.  She is one of the most emotionally generous people I have ever met.



Today in the Temple, I ran into a woman from our ward.  She hugged me and said in my ear, "I'm so glad you're here today.  I just love you."


Even my own family has been a little more generous with their affection lately...



On Sunday, Mack was wearing a pair of church shoes that he outgrew about a month ago.  Somehow, in the past few weeks, he has endured the three hours of discomfort without much complaining.  Typically, when we come home from church, the shoes get tossed into the closet and no one thinks about them again until the next Sunday morning at 10:15.  But this Sunday, his little feet were done enduring.  

In the past, I have been stuffed into shoes that were too small or uncomfortable in some way, and believe me, it's not fun.  Every now and then a delicious pair of shoes might be worth a little pain and suffering, but 7 year old boys don't really get that sort of thing.  And his little shoes aren't exactly delicious...

...unlike some others that were recently purchased for someone else in the house...

sorry about the blurry picture...Mack took it.  But even blurry, aren't they amazing???  I'm 5'6: when I wear them!! They might have to become their own post because they're making me lose my train of thought.

Back to the story...

I watched Mack sitting next to me on the bench trying to wiggle his little feet around to make them more comfortable in those shoes.  He looked completely sad and miserable.  So, I made a decision.  We snuck out of church and came home to change into his basketball shoes.  Typically, basketball shoes are not at all appropriate for church, but sometimes there are extenuating circumstances.  This was one of them.  It took us five minutes to drive home and change his shoes, and another 2 minutes to have a cookie, and then we hopped back in the car for the last half of Sacrament meeting.  No one even missed us.  But all the way back to the church, I kept hearing his little voice from the backseat saying, "Thanks, Mommy, I love you."  That one little thing made him SO happy.  He hugged me and thanked me all day long.  I love that even at almost 8 he's still so free with his hugs.  I know that may not always be the case, so I'm going to take full advantage of it while I can.


And, I'm going to try to be a little more like Mack and those women I know who don't have reservations about saying "I Love You."  They say it whenever they feel it.  Maybe we would all feel it more often if we let ourselves say it more often.  And in 40 years, I can't think of a single time when I've regretted saying, "I love you" to someone.