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From: cs-text-weekday-reply@SoupServer.com
                       I "Heard" the Love
        
       When I was growing up I do not recall hearing the words "I 
  love you" from my father. When your father never says them to 
  you when you are a child, it gets tougher and tougher for him 
  to say those words as he gets older. To tell the truth, I could 
  not honestly remember when I had last said those words to him 
  either. I decided to set my ego aside and make the first move. 
  After some hesitation, in our next phone conversation I blurted 
  out the words, "Dad . . . I love you!"
       There was a silence at the other end and he awkwardly 
  replied, "Well, same back at ya!"
       I chuckled and said, "Dad, I know you love me, and when 
  you are ready, I know you will say what you want to say."
       Fifteen minutes later my mother called and nervously asked, 
  "Paul, is everything okay?"
       A few weeks later, Dad concluded our phone conversation 
  with the words, "Paul, I love you." I was at work during this 
  conversation and the tears were rolling down my cheeks as I 
  finally "heard" the love. As we both sat there in tears we 
  realized that this special moment had taken our father/son 
  relationship to a new level.
       A short while after this special moment, my father 
  narrowly escaped death following heart surgery. Many times 
  since, I have pondered the thought, If I did not take the first 
  step and Dad did not survive the surgery, I would have never 
  "heard" the love.
  
                 By Paul Barton
                 from A Cup of Chicken Soup for the Soul 
                 Copyright 1996 by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor 
                 Hansen & Barry Spilchuk