Oh, and putting on an old Criminal Minds reminds me that my bartender tonight was the French Matthew Gray Gubler.

what now?

If you scratch something on a banana in the morning, it shows up brown by lunchtime. Cute!

I'm pretty sure all of the love notes I've gotten from relatives have been on bananas.

???

Affection is given and received more normally from non-immediate family members. Except for K. He's creepy with it.

My parents and their lack of demonstrativeness resulted in one kid being very stoic and one being very needy. I leave it to the audience to decide which is which. But mummy and daddy have gotten sappy as they grow old, and I'm willing to cuddle with just about anyone not in my immediate family. No schmoop talk, though. I may take a bullet for you, but I won't say the L-word.

It was a rough time for me. The note basically said she liked who I was becoming and referenced a specific situation and how I reminded her of her mom (still the best compliment ever.) And that she loved me and was proud of me.

I didn't know my maternal grandmother that well, she died when I was in my early teens. But she graduated in math from Grinnell in the 30s, was a farmwife during the Depression and teacher, loved to swim and sail (I only learned about the swimming recently. She drove through blizzards in a tractor against my Grandpa's strenuous objections to the nearest town with a pool. I can now sympathize.) She was interested in everything, loved to talk about world politics. Grandpa used to invite in door-to-door missionaries in because she'd sweetly debate them to tears over biblical stuff, she was a very liberal lutheran (she was always annoyed, but Grandpa liked to watch her shut them down.) She was really a renaissance woman, one who never left the country.

To be compared to her? WOW.

Is mine the only family that writes on bananas???

Aw, sara. Your family is pretty awesome.

Jesse, I've never heard of that! But now I'm dying to pack a banana in (my)Sara's lunch with a note on it. Ben is not a banana fan, sadly.

I'll cuddle with pretty much anyone who will let me. It's my sluttiest trait.

Do it! You can't write much, but XOXO or whatever works.

yes!

my family does not write love notes. I should start with mac. he will hate me, except the part that won't.

Sara, she sounds fascinating.

Jesse, I have never heard of that. Completely alien behaviour to my upbringing. Of course, now I want to test it with messages to myself. Which is hella lame.

My parents told me they were proud of me a couple years ago, which would be the first time unasked. Migraine-related again. I don't like to think about how much my chronic pain takes out of them.

I may take a bullet for you, but I won't say the L-word.

After my grandfather died when we were there, I couldn't remember if I'd told him I loved him that night. It had me bailing from slumber parties for months, in tears wanting my mommy. I use it much more liberally now. I have called people back to tell them I love them after concluding a conversation. It kind of freaked me out.

God, I can't remember if Tress or Ed died first. Ed died when we were there, I saw him carried out, blue, to the ambulance. Tress died when we were visiting the paternals (actually, the only time I've seen my dad cry, over his MIL,) so think Tress was first. I think Grandpa Ed was still alive then.

I don't know why this is so damned important to me.