Packing my youngest into her child seat and fishing around in the care for a toy to occupy her, I noticed my father was shifting from foot to foot and wondered why.
“Well,” he said, “I guess we better say ‘good bye'”
As I hugged him, he choked out the words “I love you.”
You see . . . previously, I had ended every phone call with “I love you”
and he had replied “me too.” I’d give a nervous laugh and hang up. My entire life he never expressed his love to me with words.
This telephone dance went on for many years.
The day my Dad initiated those powerful three words I merely uttered “me too.”
He passed away a week later.
Purple Pennies 