I love you!

8.30p.m. just got off the phone with my daughter and every time, we end our conversation with the word “I love you”. The 8:30 pm phone call was our fourth phone conversation of the day and each time we end with the word “I love you” even on txt message. Do I have to say I love you every time? If I don’t respond will it seem as if I don’t love her?

Just thinking loud, a lot of which I have been doing lately. It may be a sign of an old age or maybe I’m just bored, but whatever is the reason, I find myself questioning a lot of things that we commonly do or say trying to find the meaning of it. I guess am at the stage of “Why” and trying to re-define my environment. Who knows?

Why can’t my actions indicate that I love you? Must I have to say it over and over? Or do people just love to hear the word “I love you”. A friend of mine once told me that she sees it as an assurance that he still loves her. What assurance? Can’t his actions be enough of assurance? My mother always says action speaks louder than words. The only time he says he loves you is when he is going inside of you or when he needs something from you or after you finish doing something for him. I was watching the movie “What’s love got to do with it” a few days ago for the fifth time in a decade, (As busy as I am, where do I find the time to watch movies), after her husband beat the living day light out of her, he pulls her closer and says “baby I love you”. “Baby I love you”? You love me and you blacked my eyes out? You loved me and you are verbally disrespecting me in front of your friends? You love me but you don’t care how my day was? But you love me!

I’m not sure maybe am reclining to my father’s mentality or the African men mentality of not saying the words “I love you”

Just thinking out loud! So if I forget to say I love you or if I do not say it, Cecilia Atinuke, you know dad loves you. It’s just that I think my actions should speak louder than my words.