Tell them you love them

When I was a freshman in high school, I had a crush on a neighborhood boy who was a senior and the sweetest man I have ever known next to my own dad. I wasn’t old enough to date but he would walk to my house several evenings a week to hang out. We’d play one on one basketball if no one else came around to join in. When it got dark, we’d sit in the swing and smooch until my dad would turn on the back floodlight which was my clue to come inside.

I was lousy at learning about people back then. Since he was on the football team, I thought I was way below his standards. As though football players were super special or untouchable or something. It took my relationship with him to teach me that wasn’t at all true. He had a wonderful and unique…