Tuesday, April 27, 2010

A Kleenex-Worthy Post

Last night as I tucked Luke into bed, I snuggled him closely (as close as the belly allows for now), kissed him, and whispered in his ear, "I love you, little man."

Luke looked questioningly at me and said, "You know, Mommy, I already know that.  You don't have to tell me every day."

I smiled and replied, "I know, but I'm going to tell you every single day that I'm alive and that you'll listen to me say it."

Incredulously, he asked, "Even when you are old--like 64?"

I answered, "You better believe it!  EVEN when I'm One million and 64 years old and we are in Heaven, I'll still tell you every day."

He got quiet for a second.  "Mommy, do they have Facebook in Heaven?"

I half-grinned, thinking I knew where this was going.  "Umm, no, baby, I don't think they do."

With eyes beginning to tear up, he looked at some distant point over my right shoulder, "But, Mommy!  How will you be able to tell me that you love me if you die and I'm still here?"

A warm gush of tears filled my eyes.  I had to look away, too.  "You'll know it in your heart, Luke.  That's why Mommy tells you and shows you that she loves you every day now.  You'll always have that with you."

His voice choked as he inquired, "But what if I...(sob) forget?!?"

(Kleenex break.  I can't even type this without crying.  Whew.)

I assured him that there was no way that he could ever forget how much I loved him.  I hastily kissed him again, tucked him under the covers, and beat a hasty retreat to go have a good, old-fashioned ugly cry.

Today I took Emma and Luke to the cemetery where my great-grandparents, several great-uncles, and a great-aunt are buried.  Since this Sunday is Homecoming Day at our church, we typically decorate the cemetery with new flowers at this time.  We took  flowers to put on the graves of relatives that my kids never met, or were too young to remember when they passed away.

I explained to the kids that I know that I still carry the love in my heart that all of these family members had always shown me.  It's not something easily forgotten.  I think Luke feels better about it all now, but it served as a definite reminder to me that there should never be a day that goes by that I don't make sure that my children, family, friends, etc., know how much I love them.  I want them to carry that with them always.

Go love somebody today, okay?

16 delightful comments:

jasonS said...

Ahhh, that's so sweet. I tell my babies I love them every day too, now I have another reason to do it: so they'll never forget...

MamaHen said...

What a beautiful post Lianne.

Wade's World said...

Thanks a lot! It's a little after 8:30 in the morning and my eye makeup is ruined for the day!

And you're not alone; I do the same thing with Jackson about 87 times a day!

Christen said...

That is so precious, and most definitely kleenex worthy!

Anonymous said...

I'm with you....tell them loud and proud every day!

Never in my life will I not know that my grandparents loved and adored me. That is how I want my kids to feel too!

well written post!

Jill said...

That is precious. I will always and forever remember my parents telling me they love me!

j said...

Yeah, you totally made me cry. Right about the time you said "break" I was good and welled up and sniffy.

Precious Lianne. Absolutely precious. I'm going to love all of mine now.

Hugs!

Wendy said...

That's so sweet! Now pass the Kleenex.

Mrs. Jennifer said...

DOn't you just love memories like that!? Glad you all are part of a loving family.

Rachel said...

Too adorable!! And so sweet.

Merry said...

Such a sweet post! I tell Evan over and over how much I love him. It melts my heart when I hear him say "I wuv you too, mama!"

Trina said...

Oh so sweet!

Lois Christensen said...

A very sweet story. Thanks for sharing it. And can you please pas some Kleenex??

Tonya said...

Well you know this one hits too close to home for me. My 8yo has no memories of her daddy telling her he loves her because she wasn't even 2 when he died. My 11yo is trying her best to just not forget those memories but she was 5 and I know they get fainter and fainter with every passing year. I'm so thankful they have a new Dad to nurture them and tell them he loves them but I know there's a void there that can't ever be completely filled.

My heart aches they have to know that void, so I just love them as much as I possibly can and pray they know.

Avery Tales said...

What a perfect post. We so often take life for granted. It's so important to tell our family how much we love them every day.

Marie said...

Beautiful and so true.