the way she loves

Just thinking...
I have one child who tells me he loves me approximately 42 times per day, every day. He hugs me, rests his head on me, loves when I cuddle him and dance with him. 🥰
My other child does not like to be hugged by me, does not say I Love You. When I say I Love You, she responds with, “Okay.” When I hug her, I ask first; she will shrug her shoulders. She is stiff, uncomfortable. She just wants to describe in great detail the saga of Flash, or tell me again how many rings a planet has. I am bothering her. I can count on one hand the number of times she has hugged me on her own and said the words I Love You in the almost fifteen years since she was born.
When we started learning sign language, I came up with a solution that works for us:
🤟🏻.

She will use the sign for I Love You if I ask her.
I don’t know if she understands why it’s important to me, or if she even actually cares. But it means the world to me.
💗
I am thankful for this.
And so thankful for both my babies.

you are loved

I drove past my dad when I was in town today. I called him, and I asked, “ Was that you?” Yes. My voice broke, cracked. He said,”Meet me for coffee.” So I did. I needed my dad today. I just didn’t know it. Turns out he needed me too. It did wonders talking to him. We talked for an hour and a half.

Emma got invited to a sleepover this upcoming Friday. She is sooo excited about it. We were discussing it this evening. Then she HUGGED me. She hugged me HARD. She said,” Thank you for everything,mom. I can tell by your eyes you’ve had a rough day.” She squeezed tighter. I cried. Sobbed actually, my body shaking. She then said, “I love you, mom.” I cried louder.