Future love does not exist. Love is a present activity only.
—Leo Tolstoy
The poet William Stafford had some beautiful, thoughtful insights about parenting. But his final insight was his best.
When Stafford fell dead of a heart attack at age seventy-nine, his wife and children found on his desk a piece of paper with a short phrase on it, perhaps the very last words he wrote in a fifty-year career. It was simply “And all my love . . .”
Now love was not a word that Stafford used much. It might not be one that you’re comfortable using much either. But you should . . . while you can . . . while you’re still here. And don’t just say it. Give it.
Your kids, your family, your loved ones . . . they deserve that. All your love . . .