Now that I am getting older and have the chance to love profoundly, I have realized how little we tell people that we love them.

I am not only talking about the world-famous “I love you” sentence, which has inspired film genres and book stories. I am talking about truly letting people know that we appreciate them.

When you are eating lunch in a dining hall on an ordinary Wednesday with your friend, they might say, “I hope your lecture wasn’t boring today.” Or, you will tell them, “I really liked the presentation you showed me.”

But when they see you rushing and out of sheer love for you, they clear your plate so you can make it to class, we only say “thanks.” Best-case scenario, we say, “thank you so much.” 

It is only when we are sitting at our desk hours later, or before going to bed, during those moments of quietness, that we really think about them and what they have done for us. 

It is then that you realize you really appreciate this person for being in your life and taking care of you like they do, but we do not tell them that.

At least we do not tend to tell them as easily as when we like their presentation for their physics class. 

We say vows in weddings. We shower mothers with love during childbirth. We say how proud we are of someone when they get a job.

But I sat on the sofa on an ordinary Wednesday and noticed how my father, sitting beside me, put more salt on the rice because last time I told him it was bland. 

And I did not tell him how grateful I am for it. 

My friend Laura recalled on a Thursday, how her mother stayed up the whole night with her crying baby brother so the rest of the family could sleep. 

And Laura did not tell her how thankful she was for that. 

I remembered on a Friday, that time when there was only one orange left in the dining hall baskets, and my friend gave it to me, even though we both wanted it. 

And I did not tell her how I appreciated it. 

I remembered last Sunday, how my grandpa would always have chicken wings in his refrigerator when I would sleep at his house because he knew I loved them. 

And I did not tell him how cherished I felt for it. 

Think for a second about what we say in those moments, whether we are really making time to thank them, even if it was a small thing.

Whether we have told them how grateful we are for it, the same way we easily say, “I like your shirt.”

Or whether we still wait for the wedding, the childbirth or the day they get their job.

What would you do on an ordinary Wednesday?

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