Gaby
Never Forgetting the Importance of Love
I don’t know why, but I remember an incident I’ll never forget. I have a twin sister. When we were 17, she needed emergency surgery for a ruptured ovarian cyst. We’re incredibly close; we love each other deeply and can sense each other even from a distance. I can’t imagine my life without her. I was on my way home with a terrible feeling of dread. When I arrived, the neighbors told me, “An ambulance took Ira away…” I hailed a taxi and begged the driver to hurry. I rushed to the hospital and reached her just before she went into the operating room — I barely had time to take her hand and tell her everything would be okay. The surgery was complicated. I prayed for her — I would have given anything. I couldn’t think of anything else. When she opened her eyes, tears were streaming down her face. The first thing she said was, “Lyuda, I love you so much. I was so scared I wouldn’t get to say goodbye to you. I was terrified; I thought I was dying.” She told me, “Mom was there with me. For some reason I convinced myself that if Mom told me ‘I love you,’ everything would be all right, but if she didn’t, I would die. It was silly, but I kept thinking it.” Then she said to me, “Don’t worry, we paid for everything.” I cried like a child. My blood pressure shot up to 140, and the staff kept telling me to calm down, that everything would be fine — that people have surgeries all the time and they usually turn out okay. But I couldn’t explain to them why I was crying, because my sister had told me she was convinced she would die if Mom didn’t say “I love you.” That phrase meant everything to her; more than anything, she wanted to hear it.
Honestly, I will remember this for the rest of my life. It’s so important to say, “I love you!” Here’s the thing: life is so short. You might not get the chance to say “I love you,” to kiss someone goodbye, or to look at them with love… there are so many things you might not have time for.
People, tell your loved ones more often: “I love you!”
