Sometimes I really doubt whether there is love between my parents. They don't act in the romantic ways that I read in books or I see on TV. In their opinion, "I love you" is too luxurious for them to say. Sending flowers to each other on Valentine's Day is even more out of the question.
One day, my mother was sewing a quilt. I silently sat down beside her and looked at her.
"Mom, I have a question to ask you," I said after a while.
"What?" she replied, still doing her work.
"Is there love between you and Dad?" I asked her in a very low voice.
My mother stopped her work and raised her head with surprise in her eyes. She didn't answer immediately. Then she bowed her head and continued to sew the quilt.
I was in a great embarrassment and I didn't know what I should do. But at last I heard my mother say the following words:
"Susan," she said thoughtfully, "Look at this thread. Sometimes it appears, but most of it disappears in the quilt. The thread really makes the quilt strong and durable. If life is a quilt, then love should be a thread. It can hardly be seen anywhere or anytime, but it's really there. Love is inside."
I listened carefully but I couldn't understand her until the next spring. At that time, my father suddenly got sick seriously.
After they were back from the hospital, every day in the morning and dusk, my mother helped my father walk slowly on the country road. It seemed they were the most harmonious couple. Along the country road, there were many beautiful flowers, green grass and trees. The sun gently glistened through the leaves. All of these made up the most beautiful picture in the world.
After two months he still couldn't walk by himself. All of us were worried about him.
"Dad, how are you feeling now?" I asked him one day.
"Susan, don't worry about me." he said gently. "To tell you the truth, I just like walking with your mom. I like this kind of life." Reading his eyes, I know he loves my mother deeply.
Once I thought love meant flowers, gifts and sweet kisses. But from this experience, I understand that love is just a thread in the quilt of our life. Love is inside, making life strong and warm...
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