The "I Love You" Incident...

Tuesday 14th September 1999, will go down in my memory as one of THOSE days - why? Read on.....

Those of you who know me will already be aware that I am a father to two boys, neither of whom I live with, - one of them, Jack (pictured right) was the catalyst for this tale!

Around two weeks prior to the above date, I was out on my semi-regular access day with Jack, when for no particular reason (not that you need one) I told him that I loved him. I was surprised when he responded with "Love you too" - you have to understand that, while his speech is becoming more developed on an almost daily basis, there is still a healthy dose of the parrot effect involved.

The next week, I said it again, but this time, he just looked down, smiled, then proceeded to punch me in the shoulder! - I tried again a couple of times during the day, but never got the response I suppose I was looking for.

When I took him home that evening, I asked Steff, his mother, about it, and she simply said that he had stopped, for no apparent reason, and wouldn't respond to anyone with a "Love you too!" Then, today (14/9/99) when I told him again that I loved him, I got the now typical shy look, so I then asked him why he wouldn't say "I love you" any more, and he just said that he didn't know.

I then said that it was nice to say it, that I liked it, and that I was sure that Steff, his mother, and Evelyn, his maternal Grandmother also liked it. He seemed to think about this for a moment, then announced that he wanted out of his Buggy (stroller to you ppl across the pond), so I removed the straps, and let him out - then he asked for a cuddle, so I picked him up, and held him, as ordered, and he whispered "I love you" into my ear.

Words cannot begin to describe how that made me feel, as I stood there, 5'11", and a little over 200 lbs, with a pair of extremely wet eyes (actually similar to the ones looking at the monitor as I type this). For the first time since he, or his half brother, Dominic, were born, I truly knew what the phrase "It's worth all the effort" meant.

Colin M. Ormsby