Parting words

I love you.

Tomorrow, Sunday, is Valentine’s Day. Like the heart-shaped boxes of chocolates and the vases of flowers, those three words will be delivered across the nation to countless people. For some, the words will roll off their tongues with hardly any thought behind them. For others, they will arrive with great difficulty. For some, those three words will be delivered for the first time, and on the other side of Cupid’s proverbial coin, the words “I love you” will be uttered by some who have said them for years. And for those who are unable to wrap their lips around the words, you can pay Hallmark to say them for you. Either way, those three words will get a lot of play on Sunday.

While there will be no shortage of the words “I love you” on Valentine’s Day, what happens on Monday ... Tuesday ... the day after that ... and the day after that? As the chocolates in those heart-shaped boxes begin to vanish and the flowers begin to bow their heads, will “I love you” also begin to vanish and wilt?

We say “I love you” a lot in my family. With nearly every family member I have, we end our telephone conversations with “I love you.” And the relative on the other end of the line then says, “I love you too.” Without exception, that’s how every telephone conversation ends. It doesn’t matter how long we talk or the reason for the call. Before we hang up, we always say “I love you.” We don’t say it because we have to or because someone has said it to us. We say it because we mean it. It’s as simple as that.

Likewise, my close friends (men and women) and I always end our e-mails and/or text messages the same way ... “Luv U.” After all, we’re friends; we’ve been through a bunch of stuff together — thick and thin. We’ve laughed with one another, cried with each other, scolded each other, commiserated with each other ... We’ve had great times, awful times, fabulous times and just OK times together. We know each other inside and out. Of course, we love each other, so why not tell each other so?