Sometimes, I get kinda prickly and mean. I’m snappy and short (not in the cute way) with the people around me. And, poor Leo, being the one who’s around me most often, bears the brunt of my irritability.

Recently, Leo came home and treated me as sweet as could be, even though just an hour before, I had abruptly ended our phone chat because I was impatient about one thing or another. Even though I felt bad for being unkind, I couldn’t quite bring myself to soften toward him just yet. And, here he was, cheerfully asking how my day had been, giving me a kiss on the cheek. I asked him, “Why are you being nice to me?” He replied, with great tenderness, “In case you’ve forgotten, I love you!”

Love? Love that comes in spite of my prickliness and venom? No matter what I do or how I behave, I am still lovable? I am still worthy of being loved? Of course, it’s so easy to believe this about others. I just read Just Mercy – a fantastic book about the unspeakable injustices that take place within in our “justice” system. My heart broke into a million little pieces several times over as I read stories that reminded me of the humanity that even criminals have within. I can feel love for them.

So, why do I think that I’m any different? No one deserves love. No one is entitled to love. Those words connote an earning of or a working toward a reward of love. Our lovableness and our lovingness is far greater than any behaviors or projections of a personality.

What if we’re here to simply remind each other that we are loved, we are loving, we are love?

Just in case you’ve forgotten, I love you!