Don't Wait Until It's too Late to Say I Love You

In light of the tragedy that occurred in Pleasant Hill it makes sense to run this article again. You never know what will happen when.

I Love You

How could you?
They asked you,
How could you?
But you could not answer
As you were not here.
Why would you?
They asked you,
Why would you?
But their questions fell onto
The world’s deafest ears.
I loved you!
They told you,
I loved you.
But they told you too late,
Through their tears.
I’ll miss you,
They told you,
I’ll miss you.
And in death now
They hold you more dear.

The poem above is by a parent who’s teen committed suicide. For them they waited too long to say “I love you, I care about you.” Parents don’t make the same mistake as this parent did.

The Fourth of July weekend is coming up and there are going to be a lot of parties and drinking. There are also going to be a lot of drunk driving accidents, drownings and accidental overdosing. You have no way to know if you or your family might be one of the unlucky families this weekend. It could be your teen who is killed or it could be you.

Also since suicide is the third leading cause of deaths for children 10 to 18 and drowning is the leading cause of death for toddlers, there are no guarantees. However, you never know what may stop a senseless death. Something as simple as “”I love you”, before your teen leaves the house may be what saves your teen.

The point is don’t take the risk. Since you never know what may happen and many teens feel unloved or that their parents don’t care, take the opportunity while you have it to express your feeling. Don’t spend the rest of your life regretting I never told him I loved him or wondering if that would have made the difference.

Dr. Rubino is a therapist is Pleasant Hill with over 15 years of working with teens. To find out more about his work or to contact him visit his web site at www.rcs-ca.com.