Those words ... you know the ones

I love you: an expression that should only be used when we have a truly special bond with someone. These words should only be used with someone whom we cherish deeply and who can acknowledge the amazing union we have together.

He said it first, not that it matters. Of course he said it first. After all, there isn’t much on this Earth that I feared more than love. Because the inevitable conclusion to love is pain. Sound a little warped? Maybe. But honestly, even in the best of relationships, someone will be hurt. One or the other will be someday left behind, and one will be left broken. We fell in love. Totally completely head-over-heels in love. We both knew it. But I wasn’t going to say it!

A profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person. Love, according to Webster’s. At an intimate moment, "The Man" said “I love you baby” and I responded with something wonderfully touching and profound and intelligent – I think it was “Mmm, that’s nice.”

For a while, that’s just how things were. Of course, while this was happening he was also witnessing night terrors – flashbacks of my husband’s death so vivid that it would take several moments to fully wake and orient myself to time and place. He was patient and gentle and wonderfully understanding.

And then …

I whispered, so lowly it shook my guts
I whispered, "I love you,"
- and he was well pleased.