family mission statement....sort of..

Something about the movie “My Sister’s Keeper”  struck a major chord with me.The family love, the trust, the selflessness, the humility, the encouragement, the hugs, the support...I was thoroughly inspired.

I couldn't believe after all these years of incomparable love and support from my family, I had never told them how much I love them, not to anyone, not a single word about love had been uttered. That cold, heartless side of me! I thought something must be seriously wrong with me.

Then, just when I was starting to feel guilty about it, I also came to a jarring realisation that none of my family members, not even parents or siblings, had never told me to my face that they ‘LOVED’ me, like actually saying out aloud. So, it's  like a true win-win situation we have here.

I really don’t know why, but it happens with many of my friends too. Three simple words but not easy to say when it comes to a family member, even though you loved your family more than anything. It could be because we believe action speaks louder than words so there is no need to further say it out aloud, or we have taken each other for granted and we are contented assuming  that they know how much we love them. There’s a saying,”Tell your loved ones how much you love them, because you never know if there’ll be a tomorrow”. But when it comes to parents and brothers, especially brothers like mine, it gets so awkward!

The ironic part is that if  it’s a friend or your spouse or a boyfriend/girlfriend, it’s so much easier. For instance, if I’m sms-ing an old college friend, I would write something like

“Hey Melory, how r u?How’s work?Call me soon.Love you.”

That’s so easy. No awkward moment, no sweat or blood shed, both on my side and the receiver’s side.

But if I’m sms-ing my mom, I'd do something like

“Hey mom, pls send me some cash because I need to buy some books, and a little extra this month because I’m goin to Shimla because it’s snowing there and I’ve never seen a real live snow,so, please.Love you”

..and if I have to be more precise...

“Nu, naktukah poisa lo thawn rawh ka nei tawh lo. Ka hmangaih ce:-)”

Well, I think that sounds awkward and highly inappropriate!!!

So, you know what I mean:-)

I’ve seen in movies where the mother drops the teenage daughter to college and before she left gave her a kiss on the cheek with a quick,”I love you”. It's a very routine thing for them. Well, my mom and I had never had that kind of moment. Not that we do not love each other. My mom and I are like best friends. I guess it’s just that people are  different and we express our love in different ways, and it’s true many times, actions do speak louder than words!!

So, even after writing this post, I don’t know if I can ever do it...the "I love you" thing. I guess it won’t be a bad idea to try once. I'd have a good time seeing the shock and surprise faces. But for now, I’ll just keep on assuming that they know, because I believe it’s God who had planned and bind us together as a family and even if we don’t say it aloud always, I know love is ever-present, and we can all feel it, like the oil that causes friction, the cement that binds closer together and the music that brings harmony. And for the record, I like my family best when we are silly and have small fights over silly issues and then laughing about it in the end.