Clear Love in a Fog

Expressions of love between a parent and child always catch my eye, inspire me, and give me strength to help other parents find that kind of love when it proves elusive in their lives. I witnessed an especially beautiful demonstration of love one morning . . .

After I finished greeting children and parents at the front door, I remembered that my wife had asked me to bring the laundry to the cleaners. Upon fetching six shirts and a vest from my office and heading up the block, I noticed a dad who had dropped off his child just a few minutes earlier and was now looking into the child’s classroom window from the street. With his nose poking through the white window bars and practically touching the glass, the dad was breathing on it to create a fog. He apparently got the attention of his child and was using his pointer finger to write into the fog "I love you," mouthing the words at the same time.

How often do we say the words "I love you" to our children? I would guess not nearly enough. An emotion that should be crystal clear to our children needs to be expressed frequently, in as many ways that we can think of. Too often we become swept away in our daily lives, take love for granted, and never express it to our children . . . and to one another. Today (and tomorrow) let someone know that you love her/him.