I Love You, Man

Growing up, my family was very close, especially me and my sisters. However, we weren't one of those "I love you" families. We didn't really say it to each other, although there's no doubt we felt it (we're of German descent, what can I say?) I never doubted that my big sisters or my parents would go to bat for me at any moment during any conflict, and my normally calm demeanor can only be riled (violently!) by someone who tries to mess with my family (I won't even get into the high school drama or when my sister decided to play on the tennis team.) And then came my sister's two boys. There's nothing anyone in the family wouldn't do to protect them. All of us would risk life imprisonment or fist fights with other parents (or their douchebag kids) for those boys. And I could fill an entire blog post about comments my mom (Grandma) has made to baseball refs making "bad" calls on our two ball-playing boys. So, with my nephews it's different. We have suddenly become an "I love you family." Nothing against my parents and the way my sisters and I were raised, but it's a good feeling regularly reminding these boys (my nephews) "I love you."

As I get older, my parents, sisters and nephews mean as much to me as ever, but my friends have also become my "family," especially my Louisville family. My friends and I often say "I love you," (I've probably declared my love to more gay men than Bette Midler in the early 80's,) and it's wonderful!

A friend who I truly ADORE recently had some medical issues. As his close friends worried about him and eagerly waited for status reports, his partner sent a beautiful message letting us all know that he was doing better, our positive thoughts were appreciated and that knowing how much we love him was helping (or maybe it was making the poor guy's blood pressure spike... well, whatever...)

Anyway, the moral is, say "I love you" to those who mean a lot (friends, family, the Chinese food delivery guy who shows up quicker than Superman...) to you. What's the worst that could happen - it's one-sided? I can think of worse things than making someone special feel appreciated even if it does suddenly get awkward with your new boss or the guy who restocks the "Two-buck Chuck" at Trader Joes.