The I Love You Game
By Leslie Sann
There is nothing more important than the loving.
—John-Roger
Wanna play the I love you game, Mom?
I love you.
I love you.
I love you.
I love you.
It’s the only thing my mom and I say to each other because she has advanced dementia, and she just had a stroke.
She knows I’m hers. Yesterday, she didn’t remember my name.
Does it matter? Does my name define me?
Or is the loving we are — to look into each other’s eyes and know the truth?
I love you.
I love this being that was kind enough to bring me into this world and set me up with whatever circumstances were mine to grow through, to mature into a person who knows that there’s nothing more important than the loving.
I love you, Mom.
Blessings and Joy,
