“How do I love thee? I don’t know how to show you the way.” That sums up my experience of loving someone else.
I feel love, but hadn’t known how to express it, and in my earlier years, I didn’t know I was supposed to express it. I also didn’t know what the signals were for someone loving me, including my mum. Fortunately, she said, “I love you, sweetie,” so I know that she did. I didn’t know to say it back. But, Mum was a great role model for when I had children.
One thing my mother did a lot was hug and kiss me. At times I could barely stand it because I was having one of my don’t touch me days, but over time, I learned that it wasn’t so bad…over a lot of time.
Given my experience, I asked my son one day, “How do you know I love you?” He replied, “Because you said so.” I gave him a big hug.
