“Do you think there is anyone in the world,” asks Bee, “who has never said ‘I love you’?”
We’re in the car, listening to Paul Simon’s Something So Right.
Some people never say those words I love you
It’s not their style, to be so bold...
“Yes,” I say.
“Really?” She sounds surprised. “Even to their mums? And I don’t mean babies or anything.”
“Well, how about orphans?”
This is one of Bee’s favourite games. The sentences always start with ‘Do you think there is anyone is the world who has never…’ or ‘Do you think there is anyone in the world who has ever…’ and they tend to end with something ridiculous like ‘…tasted a food beginning with a vowel?’ or ‘…eaten a moth on purpose?’
I tend to always just answer ‘yes’. It seems pretty likely to me that whatever you can think of, someone will have thought of it before you. Plus there are some really strange people about. Someone is sure to have deliberately eaten a moth.
I’m even more certain that there are people who have never told anyone that they love them. It’s sad to think about though, and even sadder to think that there must be people who have never had anyone tell them that they love them.
How would you feel if you nobody had ever told you that they loved you? Worst still, how must it be to never have felt loved, even if by someone who couldn’t say it out loud?
Some people never say those words I love you
But like a child, they’re longing to be told…
Sometimes I feel as if no-one has ever said that to me, and it is a long time since anyone did actually say it in so many words. I console myself with the certainty that there is One who loves us all, and He never fails in His love. But still, it would be pleasant to feel that I was loved in an earthly way as well.
Oh dear, that sounds a bit sad! Do you have family? I know some families though aren’t great at expressing their emotions, even if they feel it. Maybe you could start a new trend among your friends! :-)