My dad left when I was five so I have very little memory of him. My grandpap and I were together ALL the time. He called me his medicine. I absolutely never heard him say I love you to anyone. But the proof was in the pudding. He took me fishing and built me tee pees, made me little drums from coffee cans. Took me to the mall in the summer and we would get hot dogs at McCrory’s and I’d play video games in the arcade. When he died in 2001 I was 19 and I thought my heart was going to break. He never said I love you but I had no doubt in my mind that I was his everything and he was proud of me.

My dad said it when my brother and I were little... Maybe up to 5 or 6, but once we were big boys, he quit and so did we.
He started again about a year ago after the first time he got really sick and made a point of telling us how proud he was of us. I think he knew something then.

For many, it would have been too little, too late, but he always made clear by his actions that he loved us...and we never took the initiative and said it first either it's a shame that people let bitterness or pride leave important things unsaid until it is too late.

If you feel it and want to say it, just say it. Don't wait for the other person. If it makes them uncomfortable, just tell them why you say it, that they don't have to say it back but that you're going to tell them anyhow. Family, friends... we're supposed to feel it, we're directed by Jesus to love one another. It doesn't have to be icky.

For those that didn’t hear it much back in the day but hear it often now, is it just as valuable, less valuable or more valuable when you say it or hear it?

Good question, and hard to answer. I have no problem with a hug or "I love you" among close family, way less with other relatives and acquaintances...My wife can talk the air out of a room and she's constantly saying I love you to most folks. Still makes me a little uncomfortable, and it just becomes words. I think it made a bigger impact when it wasn't said much, compared to now, if that makes sense.

My old man loved beer. Pretty certain that was the extent of it.
I tell everyone in my family that I love them fairly often, but I believe actions speak louder than words. They all know that I love them.

Men, generally growing up were not well versed in expressing the “affectionate” side of themselves to family members or others, and as they get older toward the “autumn of their years,” some tend to look back at things they maybe should have expressed and try to do it now. Unfortunately many times the opportunity has been missed do too many unforseen factors. So if one senses, and now has the chance to do so, do it without hesitation. It may be one’s last chance.
SJA

“The clock of Time is wound just once, and no man has the power to know just when the hands will stop at late or early hour.”

GCS, is pretty much a X2 for me.

IMO, it's more in value, it indicates one's realization of maybe past regret.

I think it’s a good thing. It’s a hard word to say,, it’s not that you don’t,, men just aren’t good at saying things like that.
Use to be when my wife would say “ I love you “ I’d say back to her” you too”
When I had my close call with the blood clots in my lungs last year,, I began to rethink a lot of things.
I have gone back to calling her “ my sweet potato “ and I don’t hesitate to say “ I love you “ back to her.
It doesn’t mean that you are soft or sissified,,,
Sometimes folks just need to hear it