I heard these words tonight and I started to cry. These are not often words that are uttered from Molly to us. She usually responds to our numerous “I love you” declarations with blank stares or non-sequitors. (oh, you love me? Let me tell you about dinosaurs) It’s not that she doesn’t love us, it’s just that she lacks either the verbal or emotional skill to tell us. Everything we go through with her, this is probably the hardest one to deal with. It breaks my heart on a daily basis that my devotions go unrequited vocally.
I understand that she loves us, I can tell from her actions that she does. I saw how she glowed and held my hand the day I volunteered in preschool, I know her constant devotion to being by my side and her insistence of my one on one attention are all forms of love. I know this, but sometimes I need to hear it. And tonight I did. It took about a dozen “I love you” utterances from me and my telling her that the response is “I love you too” but when she opened her bedroom door to tell me that she loved me, I didn’t care about the fact that I forced my need on to her because I got what I needed to hear. I’m set for the next 6 months until I force it out of her again.