I Love You . . .

I entered a small contest, where the winner was chosen randomly, you could enter as many times as you liked, but I only chose to enter once.  You had to use 3 words to say "I love you" without saying that exact phrase.  There were a lot of silly phrases (at least to me) like; "Shave your legs."  "Go play golf." "Put on lipstick."  However, I submitted just the one entry. "Please, be safe." 

 My husband is an OTR Driver and is gone far more than he is home. We always part the same way: my oral checklist of everything he needs to take with him, hug and a kiss and an "I love you." But a few years ago, I started calling out to him as he walked away, "Please, be safe!" The thought of the accidents, the other careless drivers, blizzards, tornadoes, etc. always flashes through my mind. Then, one day, he stopped dead in his tracks, whirled around, scooped me up and gave me the biggest bear hug, with tears streaming down his face he told me that he knew that one phrase incorporated far more than "I love you", it incorporated, "I love you, I need you, please don't ever leave me, you are more precious to me than anything in this world." Thus: Please, be safe is my greatest way of saying "I love you" to my dearest husband.