Declaring love is a way to let life overflow a person’s heart.

Most people establish dates to demonstrate their love to someone: birthday, Christmas, wedding, anniversary, Valentine’s Day.

To them, expressing love is like using silver cutlery: it is beautiful, sophisticated, but only in very special occasions.

Some never express their feelings. They believe others are aware of it, and that is enough. It is unnecessary to say it.

A doctor recounts that one of his clients, married to a man who was not used to expressing his feelings, had appendicitis and was taken into hospital.

She had an emergency surgery done, and many blood transfusions were necessary, with no satisfactory results.

The doctor, feeling worried, tried to inquire her: “I thought you wanted to be cured as fast as you could, that so you could get back to your home and husband.”

She answered, with no enthusiasm at all:

“My husband does not need me. Actually, he needs no one.  He says that all the time.”

That evening, the doctor said to the husband that his wife did not want to get well. She was suffering from a deep lack of affection, which was putting her treatment in danger.

The husband’s answer was short and precise:

“She must get well.”

Finally, as a last resource to obtain the patient’s recovery, the doctor opted to realize a direct blood transfusion.

The donator was the husband himself, as he had the adequate blood type.

Laying next to her, as his blood ran from his veins into hers, something unexpected happened.

The husband, showing true affection in his voice, told his wife:

“Darling, I will make you get well.”

“Why?” asked her, without even opening her eyes.

“Because you mean a lot to me.”

There was a pause. Her pulse went faster. Her eyes opened and she slowly turned her head to look at him.

“You have never said that to me before.”

“I am saying it now.”

Later, the husband heard the opinion of the doctor about his wife’s recovery.

It was not the transfusion itself, but what came with the blood donation that made her recover. The loving words made the difference between life and death.

It is important to know how to say: “I love you!” The affectionate gesture, the authentic gentle word, the affection demonstrated on a hug or in a tender caress, works as stimulus to the narrowing of the indestructible laces of love.

It is very important to put down the curtain of silence between creatures, and it is indispensable that people talk about their feelings, with no fear nor shyness.

To be a signal of love is to be able to create a special environment to him or herself, as well as to the ones next to them.

The person that tells another one: “I love you”, is not only expressing his or her capacity of loving, but is also making him or herself be loved, as well as creating a loving environment around them.

Written by Spiritist Moment Team, based on the chapter Ecologia Doméstica, from Pais e Filhos – Companheiros de viagem, by Roberto Shinyashiki. Publishing House: Gente; and from the text A convivência humana, by José Ferraz, extracted from the magazine Presença Espírita, nº 227, from November/December 2001.