I love study I “Heard” the Love

I “Heard” the Love  

When I was growing up I do not recall hearing the words “I love you” from my father. When your father never says them to you when you are a child
it gets tougher and tougher for him to say those words as he gets older. To tell the truth
I could not honestly remember when I had last said those words to him either. I decided to set my ego aside and make the first move. After some hesitation
in our next phone conversation I blurted out the words
“Dad… I love you!”
There was a silence at the other end and he awkwardly replied
“Well
same back at ya!”
I chuckled and said
“Dad
I know you love me
and when you are ready
I know you will say what you want to say.”
Fifteen minutes later my mother called and nervously asked
“Paul
is everything okay?”
A few weeks later
Dad concluded our phone conversation with the words
“Paul
I love you.” I was at work during this conversation and the tears were rolling down my cheeks as I finally “heard” the love. As we both sat there in tears we realized that this special moment had taken our father/son relationship to a new level.
A short while after this special moment
my father narrowly escaped death following heart surgery. Many times since
I have pondered the thought
if I did not take the first step and Dad did not survive the surgery
I would have never “heard” the love.