Hey, I Think I Love You

“Always tell. Just in case,” she said in a rushed breath. I wondered, wondered at the sense of urgency, at her sureness that it was the right thing to do. I wondered if it had happened to her like it has happened to most of us, someone slipping away, out of our life, out of our reach, out of hearing range……forever. We had been talking about telling people that we love them and their subsequent reactions, laughing together at some of the responses to these spontaneous revelations when, suddenly, as conversations between us often do, things turned serious. If you look close enough, under laughter you’ll find pain, buried away, covered in layers of years and years of healing. If you’re listening closely, you’ll hear it slip in, changing the inflection, and changing an open smile to a wry one. Telling someone you love them used to be a scary thing, back when responses were everything. There was that moment between delivery and response when you held your breath, waiting for heartbreak or elation. “I love you, too. I love you as a friend. I’m sorry, I don’t feel the same way. Thanks.” The worst? Dead silence, lol! My favorite is, “Who knew?,” because if I love you, well, you know it already. I’m going to make sure of that so that if you do slip away, even if I failed to say it aloud, I’ll know that you knew. I usually say, ‘Same,” because it’s simple, easy and true. Hey! I think I love you! Isn’t that what life is made of? Always tell. Just in case. And, below, a poem by my partner in crime, the talented Kate LaDew.