“I love you.” 

A phrase that takes only seconds to say or type, but forever to understand. 

I’ve heard the phrase in different lights and from different people — some more believable than others, and some more meaningful than others. 

It’s relatively easy to tell someone you love them compared to truly proving it. Being loved isn’t just to be told it; it is being known. I’ve grown up reminding people that I love them in various ways, but I was never the type to constantly say the phrase. 

The people who love me the most understand me the best. Truly loving someone means taking the time to memorize their coffee order or knowing their favorite song and playing it for them. Truly loving someone means understanding them for who they are and comprehending it; it’s being able to tell their mood without them having to utter a word. Truly loving someone is thinking about them when you hear that song or visit that coffee shop. It’s the “little” things that make up how much you truly love someone, the things that emphasize how much you care because it’s meaningful and personalized. 

There have been people in my life who have “loved” me for years, but understood me for none. And though there have been people in my life who did not know me for all of it, they know all of me now. 

My grandpa knew how much I loved drives, so he’d take me on short drives every day before he left for work. My grandma knows exactly how I like my mangos. My dad knows every food order of mine for every possible restaurant. My mom knows exactly how I like my chai. My little sister knows how to instantly make me laugh. My cousin knows how to distract me on a bad day. My best friend can read me to the point where I don’t even have to tell her what’s going on. My English teacher took the time to read through my essays and to understand me for the writer and person I am, rather than the student I try to be. 

Every important person in my life has taken the time to understand me, so I don’t just feel loved, but feel known and understood. It’s the moments when my best friend hugs me because she knows it’s what I need, an old teacher writing me a letter reminding me of how proud they are or my family supporting me through the unknown because they know it helps. It’s saying “I love you” without uttering the words. 

That makes me feel loved.