I grew up thinking my mother was cold because she never said I love you. I'm in my 60s now and I finally understand she said it every single day. She said it in packed lunches and ironed uniforms and the way she sat outside the school fifteen minutes early so I'd never have to look for her. - Silicon Canals

I grew up thinking my mother was cold because she never said I love you. I'm in my 60s now and I finally understand she said it every single day. She said it in packed lunches and ironed uniforms and the way she sat outside the school fifteen minutes early so I'd never have to look for her. - Silicon Canals

Briefly

"A parent who says 'I love you' every morning is legible. We understand that parent immediately. A parent who wakes up forty minutes before the rest of the household to prepare a lunch with the crusts cut off, the apple sliced so it won't brown, a napkin tucked in with a small note about having a good day: that parent expresses love in a way that is often overlooked."

"Most people believe love is a feeling you express. Western culture has built an enormous infrastructure around this assumption: greeting cards, declarations, rom-coms where the climactic moment is always someone finally saying it."