لخّصلي

In my family, the words "I love you" are
never said. It's not that we don't love each other. we just show it without saying it. I help my sister
learn her multiplication tables, and I collect my
baby brother's vegetables from under his chair. My mom puts oatmeal raisin cookies in my
lunch, and my dad takes me to the tractor-pull

exhibitions. Then the puppy came, and I don't think I'd
ever heard "I love you" so much "Where's my
lovey-dovey Shadow?"Last night, after my mom and dad squished
the covers under my neck, I murmured, "I
love you." When their silhouettes froze in the
doorway, I suddenly hoped they hadn't heard me.
thre
I imagined my heart beating through the covers. and I twisted away so my blanket shielded my eyes

Say
The next day, Dad came home early and
shouted, "Where's my boy?"Dad sat down on the floor, hugged me
tightly, and said, "No, here's my boy." Then he
said, "I love you, Jonah."my dad said as we walked to the door, Shadow
tripping along excitedly behind us.
ed

"Ah, Dad, can't we bring Shadow?"I begged
Dad nodded, I grabbed Shadow's leash, and the
me
three of us headed to the park.Mom would croon.

In my family, the words "I love you" are
never said. It's not that we don't love each other.
we just show it without saying it. I help my sister
learn her multiplication tables, and I collect my
baby brother's vegetables from under his chair.
My mom puts oatmeal raisin cookies in my
lunch, and my dad takes me to the tractor-pull

exhibitions.
Then the puppy came, and I don't think I'd
ever heard "I love you" so much "Where's my
lovey-dovey Shadow?" Mom would croon. And
she practically held his aluminum dog bowl while

Shadow scattered food all over the kitchen floor.
Arriving home, my dad would shout,
"Where's my boy, where's my boy?" and Shadow
would speed around the corner and run between
his legs a million times.

At night, with Shadow curled into a ball at
the foot of my bed, I even whispered, "Good
night, Shadow. I love you " It felt wonderful to
show and tell love, and somehow I slept better
after doing that.

Last night, after my mom and dad squished
the covers under my neck, I murmured, "I
love you." When their silhouettes froze in the
doorway, I suddenly hoped they hadn't heard me.
thre
I imagined my heart beating through the covers.
and I twisted away so my blanket shielded my eyes

Say
The next day, Dad came home early and
shouted, "Where's my boy?" I bit the inside of my
er;
lip and continued playing Go Fish with my sister
ter
as Shadow scampered in and out of Dad's legs.
Dad sat down on the floor, hugged me
tightly, and said, "No, here's my boy." Then he
said, "I love you, Jonah."

My mother sat down with us and sorted
the cards, but looked first at me and my sister.
"You know I love you both, more than you can
ever imagine," she said, tears trickling down her
ile
cheeks.
"Oh, Mommy, you are silly!" my sister

giggled.
"Hey," my dad said, "how about you and me
pitching some balls at the park?"

I grabbed my baseball glove from the closet
and tossed my father the ball. "Where's Shadow's
leash? He loves chasing balls."

"No, this is our time, Jonah-you and me."
my dad said as we walked to the door, Shadow
tripping along excitedly behind us.
ed

"Ah, Dad, can't we bring Shadow?" I begged
Dad nodded, I grabbed Shadow's leash, and the
me
three of us headed to the park. After all, how
ers,
could I go without the one who showed us how to
truly express love?