Have I told you lately that I love you.. ;)

A Dad, Chef, Freeper ^ | 08/29/03 | Carlo3b, a FReeper lover.

[carlo3b]

 

Have I told you lately that I love you....  ;)

How is it that we can go through life taking for granted all of those wonderful people that make life worth living, without ever telling them?

How could we be so distracted that we overlook the importance of the devotion, caring, and warmth that our loved ones provide?

What would you do if tomorrow they were simply gone, vanished ..forevere..?  How would you feel?   What was the last thing you said to them?  What would you say to bring them back? What would you do differently?

What if I told you that it isn't too late to say what you really feel to all of the special people that make such a difference in your world.....

...and to all of those special souls that are waiting for us...

Tell them... tell them now...

Have I told you.. how much I love you Freepers..

well, just in case.. I'm telling you now... I love you.... sealed with a kiss

 
 

[dandelion]

I sympathize, through my tears.

Three weeks ago, my daughter graduated from Air Force Basic Training. As the weekend rolled on, I did my best to be cheerful and proud; after all, my child had given her future to the service of her Nation. But then the weekend was over, and we sat in the car holding hands during our last minutes before her deployment to San Angelo. I let go of her hand, and she began the long walk back to her dorm. About thirty yards out, she stopped and turned back to stare at me - and even though she was so far from me, I saw the tears in her eyes. I saw my little girl, who now wanted to run to her mother.

I did the only thing I knew how to do at the time: I burst into a off-tune and dreadfully loud rendition of "Off We Go, Into the Wild Blue Yonder".

"Off we go, into the Wild Blue Yonder,
Climbing high into the sun..."

I saw her smile ruefully; then she turned with perfect military bearing towards her dorm. She continued in cadence to the beat of my dreadful singing all the way down the walk, further and further, smaller and smaller. Suddenly she was very small, like a little blond-headed girl I once nursed at my breast. I remembered; I wept like a baby as a military woman turned the corner into the distance and my little girl disappeared...

[dandelion]

I sympathize, through my tears.

Three weeks ago, my daughter graduated from Air Force Basic Training. As the weekend rolled on, I did my best to be cheerful and proud; after all, my child had given her future to the service of her Nation. But then the weekend was over, and we sat in the car holding hands during our last minutes before her deployment to San Angelo. I let go of her hand, and she began the long walk back to her dorm. About thirty yards out, she stopped and turned back to stare at me - and even though she was so far from me, I saw the tears in her eyes. I saw my little girl, who now wanted to run to her mother.

I did the only thing I knew how to do at the time: I burst into a off-tune and dreadfully loud rendition of "Off We Go, Into the Wild Blue Yonder".

"Off we go, into the Wild Blue Yonder,
Climbing high into the sun..."

I saw her smile ruefully; then she turned with perfect military bearing towards her dorm. She continued in cadence to the beat of my dreadful singing all the way down the walk, further and further, smaller and smaller. Suddenly she was very small, like a little blond-headed girl I once nursed at my breast. I remembered; I wept like a baby as a military woman turned the corner into the distance and my little girl disappeared...

[Humidston]

Blubbering. Tears rolling down my cheeks. BRAVO to one brave lady!

[hasegawasama]

Your post made me actually consider a few things in my life... thanks.

[dandelion]

I beat you to the blubbering part :) ...

I was crying all the way through this thread, all the way through posting, and I think I might just make a night of it. Time to go visit the prayer threads!

[hasegawasama]

You're right.

[Humidston]

PS... Make that BRAVO to TWO brave ladies. You raised her good, Mom.

[tictoc]

My sincere sympathies.

[Tymesup]

I make it a point to tell my squeeze that I love her, at least once a day. She asked why - I told her that it would be easy to let a day go by, and then another, and another, and before you know it, it's too late.

[glory]

Hey Carlo, I'm sure he will be fine. He's got a heck of a dad!

[M. Peach]

Dude - you're awesome - thanks for the great words and feelings - I'm feeling them now.

[Lucy Lake]

Blam, I'm so sorry for your loss.

[M0sby]

Have I Told You Lately (Van Morrison) Have I told you lately that I love you Have I told you there's no one else above you Fill my heart with gladness take away all my sadness ease my troubles that's what you do For the morning sun in all it's glory greets the day with hope and comfort too You fill my life with laughter and somehow you make it better ease my troubles that's what you do There's a love that's divine and it's yours and it's mine like the sun And at the end of the day we should give thanks and pray to the one, to the one Have I told you lately that I love you Have I told you there's no one else above you Fill my heart with gladness take away all my sadness ease my troubles that's what you do There's a love that's divine and it's yours and it's mine like the sun And at the end of the day we should give thanks and pray to the one, to the one And have I told you lately that I love you Have I told you there's no one else above you You fill my heart with gladness take away my sadness ease my troubles that's what you do Take away all my sadness fill my life with gladness ease my troubles that's what you do Take away all my sadness fill my life with gladness ease my troubles that's what you do

[aposiopetic]

What a loss to have endured. Through your children you honor the memory of your sister and your parents.

Keep up the good work as your kids raise their own.

[CobaltBlue]

One of the really hard things with suicides is the second-guessing, wondering if maybe you'd done something differently it wouldn't have happened.

I've never lost a family member to suicide but over the course of a relatively short time lost four friends that way and it was rather traumatizing.

I used to blame myself, but don't anymore. Nevertheless, I miss my friends a lot. Probably we would have lost touch over the years, but the line of communication would have always been there, and now it's gone and can never be again. That does hurt.

Suicide is very unfair to those you leave behind. I would understand if the person had a terrible terminal illness and great pain, but just emotional unhappiness isn't a fair reason to kill yourself and hurt everybody who knows you.

[wimpycat]

Wow. That's got to be tough. And it's so sad. And I didn't have suicide in mind when I posted my last post. I was thinking of car accidents and the like.

During my dad's first year of teaching, back in 1961 I think, an 8th grade student gave him a letter opener, with his initials on it. It wasn't what you'd call super expensive, but it wasn't a cheapo, either. It's brass, I think. Anyway, I think it was during the same school year that she drowned herself. My dad must have been something special to her for her to have given him such a nice gift, but of course, one never knows what would lead a little girl to drown herself, of all things. But my dad still has the letter opener, after all these years.

[wimpycat]

It's not so simple as that. While I'm sure some of them clear-headedly and basically cold-bloodedly take their own lives, most of them, while maybe not technically mentally ill, are so wrapped up in themselves and their own misery that they insulate themselves from the reality of other people's feelings. Throwing other people's feelings into the mix just complicates everything and causes more pain, so they avoid dealing with it. They consciously delude themselves that people will be better off without them, and keep on doing it until it becomes unconscious, and they really end up believing it. Of course many are so far gone that nothing will stop them. It's sort of like anorexics in a way. They look in the mirror and see a fat person, no matter what you tell them, and no matter how intelligent they may be, while everybody in the world sees a walking skeleton. Many suicidal people honestly don't see what they have to live for. It's like some weird alternate reality.

[knak]

It's very nice to know there are more men like you around. My husband is a wonderful father and husband. He never leaves the house without telling my son he loves him and giving him a kiss. He gives him whatever he can and spoils him rotten, but he's not rotten. He is turning out to be a very caring person even though he's only 8.

My husband always tells me he wants our boy to remember his dad as a good dad when he grows up And remember they did things together and that his father had time for him.

What can I say but, keep up the good work. There are a few lucky women in the world to be able to have a real man like that to stand beside them.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

Well, he had a pretty severe case of schizophrenia, and I know he suffered horribly with it...I understand completely why he did it.

I was just talking to my mother and something interesting came up. This brother was quite a bit older than me, and for some reason, I never really caught on to when his birthday was (a "J" month in the summer, and I never got that straight let alone the day) - but last year, my husband and I watched "A Beautiful Mind" one night, and if you've seen it, you can imagine what an impact it had on me. I realized then how horrible and terrifying life for him must have been.

After the movie, I was thinking of him, and I looked up his record in the Social Security Death Database. I looked at his birthdate.

We had watched that movie on his birthday without realizing what day it was.

As if THAT wasn't enough, a week or so later, I told another of my brothers that I had watched "A Beautiful Mind" that night, and he said he had watched it that night, too. He is closer to my age, and he hadn't known it was our older brother's birthday, either.

Really strange.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

My goodness - 8th grade. That is so incredibly sad.