The article reflects on the author's experiences with love and care shaped by their relationships with parents and friends. It highlights how a mother's anxiety turned into a form of love, while a gay marriage became a profound friendship amid the struggles of illness. Care packages from the author's father continue the cycle of love and support, illustrating the enduring bonds within families despite physical distances. Overall, the narratives emphasize different expressions of love that transcend traditional definitions and are often intertwined with worry, friendship, and sacrifice.
My mother's love language was worry. An anxious woman, she believed panic was a form of protection. It's what you don't see coming that gets you, she said, searching out the unlikeliest dangers.
To some, it was just a green-card marriage. To us, it was a faithful, lifelong friendship. Steve contracted AIDS and moved home to Virginia. I visited him often. Watching him deteriorate was unbearable.
When my father told his father that his shoes were getting worn out by walking to and from the post office, his father promptly airmailed him a package. Inside the box: new shoes.
Yet, the cycle of care packages continues. For me, he will deliver steaming soup, my favorite books and box upon box of sweet mango juice.
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