I Love You — Do You Want To Hear It? Or Be Shown It?

“You are late!” Ora said to Michelle as she hurried to her seat between Tami and Linda in Hailey’s Heaven Fine Foods. An expensive upscale restaurant not far from home. Sitting down, putting her bag on the left side of her wooden chair, she apologized, “Sorry, but Tony got delayed and picked me up late.”

“Couldn’t you have taken an Uber?” Linda asked.

“Your car is still in the shop?” Ora asked.

“Why should I pay for an Uber when I can get a free one?” Michelle said, staring at them in shock after, easing towards the white lace tablecloth that protected the circular wooden table.

“Can you get a free Uber?” Linda questioned, her head leaned to the right.

“She is talking about her husband, fool. He takes her everywhere she wants to go,” Tami reminds them.

“Can we get back to the question?” Ora said, pulling their thoughts back.

“What question?” Michelle asked.

“Carla says her husband never tells her that he loves her. I hear these two opinions,” she said, pointing at Tami and Linda. “You have been married longer than most people I know. Isn’t that something a husband should tell his wife daily?”

Michelle bounced her head left to right, then revealed, “Tony told me once that he loved me when he asked me to marry him. That was fifteen years ago. We are still happily married and don’t have a problem.”

Jaws dropped with mouths, eyes popped, and Ora asked, “You stayed married fifteen years to a guy who told you he loved you only once?”

“Yeah,” Linda and Tami inquired, glaring at her in shock.

“I don’t want anyone telling me that they love me,” Michelle said as the waitress approached, handing them menus.

“You want him to show you? Right?” the waitress asked, smiling at them.

Giggling, Michelle answered, “Damn right! Mouth and tongue lie; actions are more truthful.”

“I am Dana,” the waitress points to her name tag. “You found a guy who shows you that he cares, flourishing you with love and kindness instead of saying it, ah?”

Michelle grabbed a chair from around the table nearby, eased her chair over, and signalled Dana to sit down. She obeyed, then she enlightened all of them, “I only do what I want to do, and many times I have to fight him to do something for myself. I work because I want to and don’t have to touch my pay. He finds time to cook for us. Fixes my car. Takes me anywhere I want to go and picks me up. One weekend per month is for our family, and another is for the two of us only. He never . . . .”

“Your husband is that good?” they interrupted her.

Nodding in agreement, she went on, “He never forgets my birthdays or any important days. He brings me lunch twice per week at work, and we meet for lunch the other two. I get my me time, and so does he. He can sense if I have a bad day at work when he picks me up. Then goes out of his way to fix it. He doesn’t have to tell me he loves me, because how he treats me with love screams it every day. Many times per day, too.”

“Why didn’t you tell us this before?”

“Because he warned me not to go around telling my female friends how nice he is, because someone might want to taste him,” Michelle said, glaring at them.

“You are talking about my Devon,” Dana quickly said, sensing the tension rising from Michelle’s remark. “We are not married yet, but we are planning it. He doesn’t have to tell me that he loves me, and I don’t want him to. I want him to show me that he does. And he goes out of his way to show me that I am loved and thought of.”

“Your husband really told you not to tell your friends about how good he is?” Ora asked, staring at Michelle with furrowed brows.

Grinning, Michelle confessed, “No, his mother did.”

Three pairs of eyes stared at them, sighing after their heart and truth registered what had just transpired.

“Wow!” Ora said. “I met many guys who told me they love me, but their love didn’t last.”

“Me too!” Linda and Tamia admit.

“So, which would you rather?” Michelle questioned, eyes aimed at the three of them,

“Show me that you love me,” they sang like a chorus.

“What are you having?” Danna said, standing up and taking her notepad and pen from her apron pocket.

“Her husband,” Tami, Linda, and Ora said, laughing, pointing at Michelle.

I agree with Dana and Michelle. I wasn’t born from love, but somehow, love found me. I don’t go around telling others I love them, but you will see it, feel it, receive it in my actions, choices, decisions, and intentions.

Would you rather someone tell you they love you, or show you that they do?

Actions speak louder than words and can be more effective, soothing, and understanding.

Thank you for reading this piece. I hope you enjoyed it.