I Love You, Brother / I Love You, Sister

Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

A sister wrote her brother a note.
No reasons.
No promises.
Nothing to prove.
Only three words:

“I love you.”

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

How can something so small
hold something so large?

A door does not have to be large
to let the light through.

Who is my brother?
A life you will not treat as strange.

Who is my sister?
A heart whose hurt can make you change.

Must we share a name or history?
No—kinship reaches further than the blood.

Then what turns relation into family?

Meeting one another’s lives with love.
Meeting one another’s lives with love.

I love you, brother—
I will let it show.

I love you, sister—
I will let you know.

Not only in the words I say,
but in the way I choose to stay.

I love you, brother—
your life matters here.

I love you, sister—
your voice matters here.

No price to pay,
no part to play.
You are not alone today.

Is love a feeling?
Feeling is the first knock at the door.

And if the feeling fades?
Then practice shows us what the word is for.

What is the quiet opposite of love?
To see a need and simply turn away.

What happens when I make mistakes?

I and I will search our heart, to understand and forgive.
That is Love’s way.
That is Love’s way.

How do I know when love is living?
It makes the word a living deed today.

Say it brothers and Sisters!

I love you, brother—
I will let it show.

I love you, sister—
I will let you know.

In the listening, in the care,
in the moment I am there.
In the magic
In the rescue
In the understanding
In the compassion
In the grace

I love you, brother—
your life matters here.

I love you, sister—
your voice matters here.

Not bought or sold,
not bought or sold—
a love freely given
cannot be owned.

Must I earn my place among you?
No price, no purchase, no disguise.

What makes us kin to one another?
I guard your dignity; you guard mine.

Then belonging is not barter?
No ledger weighs the care we freely give.

What does a brother ask a sister?
“How can I help you more fully live?”

What does a sister ask a brother?
“Will you let me know you as you are?”

And what do they answer one another?
“You need not hide your wound or scar.”

If I have been wounded,
must I open?
Heal at your pace.
Let truth take time.

Must love abandon every boundary?
No—a loving heart may draw a line.

Is sacrifice self-erasure?
No—love asks no life to disappear.

Then what is courage between brothers and sisters?
To protect both lives
and still refuse to live in hate or fear.

What carries us from death to life?
The moment we become each other’s care.

And when life passes into death?
Love remains in what we gave and shared.

Can words outlive the hands that wrote them?
One little note can travel everywhere.

Then what shall we say while we are living?

Brother, I love you.
Sister, I love you.
I am here.
I am here.

I love you, brother—
say it while we’re here!

I love you, sister—
say it bright and clear!

In the word and in the deed,
in the answer to a need.

I love you, brother—
not because you’re mine!

I love you, sister—
life reaching out to life!

Not bound by blood,
not bought or sold—
a wider family
for every soul to hold.

Who is my brother?

The one whose life
I will not call a stranger!

Who is my sister?

The one whose dignity
I choose to honor!

What is love?
A word made deed!

What is belonging?
Seeing and being seen!

What are All My Relations?
Every life, every being, becoming someone’s care!

I love you, brother!
I love you, sister!
I love you, brother!
I love you, sister!

The loving sister wrote:

“I love you.”

Let us follow her example
and be brave enough
to answer.

I love you, brother.
I love you, sister.
And I will let it show.