短篇英语美文欣赏：I “Heard” the Love

英语自学网

　　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.