A good friend of mine recently wrote a social media post about saying the words “I love you” and how difficult it was for him at times to share that sentence. Thinking back, I realized that I have rarely, if ever, heard those words said out loud.
In my family, it was understood or assumed that you were loved—but those words were almost never spoken. The way love was communicated growing up was through teasing—slightly sarcastic, mildly insulting quips. Saying “I love you” directly was somehow not part of my family’s communication.