“You know I love you. How could I not?”
It was one line at the bottom of the page of my blue notebook. The words were written in bright blue ink by my old teacher. It may just be words on a page to everyone else, but those were the words that brought me back to the little girl that was unsure if she was worthy of others’ love and time. That one line healed the little girl — it showed me that I’m not hard to love.
I’ve grown up putting others first because I knew how it felt to be shown love rather than just told it. I’ve spent hours writing letters to the people in my life — not because my words drastically change lives, but because I know how it feels to have someone take time out of their day for me. Actions are greater than words, but that doesn’t mean that words should go unheard or don’t hold a sense of power in one’s life.
The people in my life have shown me love in different ways, whether it’s a hug or a hand on the head. Though those little actions have changed my life and made me feel eternal love, I can’t relive those moments in anything other than memories and photographs. However, with the words written to me, I live with the constant reminder right by my bedside when I need it and in every conversation I have.
Even though showing love goes further than saying it, that doesn’t mean words go nowhere. The letters I write have made the people I love cry from joy; it wasn’t the act of me writing the letter, it was the words I wrote in it. I write my story in personal columns to show others that they’re not alone; someone else understands what they’re going through — someone else gets it.
Every time I end a call with my grandma, I say “miss you” and she responds, “miss you more.” When I’m having a rough day, my best friend will talk to me on the phone for hours about the most random and absurd topics to distract me. Every time I walk out of my old English classroom, my teacher says “Love you” to remind me that she cares. Every little reminder I read and every conversation I hold is another reason to believe I’m loved.
Actions are greater than words; they always have been. Showing someone you love them proves you care enough to go beyond the simple act of saying something. But with that being said, just because one thing has a greater impact than the other, doesn’t mean the other has no impact at all.
The words I say may not be the best, but they are words that can make an impact.
