Tell Her You Love Her

It was early evening and I was cooking in my small box of a kitchen. James was out with the kids, walking the dog, and I was alone, in my quiet concrete house. The radio was playing, just like it always does when I'm alone and a song came on that made me stop cutting the sweet potatoes.

It was one of those moments you can't help but listen. To the words, to the chords, to the harmonies. 

It must have been intended as a love song from a girl to a boy, but to me it was all about her.

With every line, I saw my daughter in my head.

I saw her at night before she goes to bed. I saw her coming towards me when I pick her up from school. I saw her hugging her little brother.

"Tell her a story, tell her the honest truth. You treat her better, make sure to see it through. Don't be just everything she wants, be everything she needs. When she says she loves you, tell her you love her too." 

 For the next 15 years while she lives in my house, I hold this little life in my hands. But more importantly, every morning I wake up and hold her day in my hands. Am I everything she needs? Do I treat her better? Do I tell her the truth? Do I tell her I love her?

Because the next 15 years are short and each day eventually comes to a close. I am not her everything, no, but I am a lot of it. And her three and a half years are chock full of insight and wisdom. She is
 more than I give her credit for. 

She is watching, listening, creating her own art.

When she says she loves you, tell her you love her too.