Whisper 'I love you'

I've always said it, often and to all sorts of people. I give my love freely and it means many things.
I know that, as a child, I was able to say it so often because I was secure in its place and in its reciprocation. My parents would joke with me about the frequency of my declaration.
As I grew older and threw the word around, I hoped it would serve me just as well. 

Not always. 

It was sometimes misplaced and remained over used.

I grew to be more cautious with it, with men, with those that found it a trap. I felt the certainly of my feelings but didn't get it back. With my choice of husband or still felt that I gave and gave and he cautiously returned my voice. So often I wondered if he did, love me. He did and does.
For a time I stopped saying it. I couldn't do it with the honesty I once had, with the naive abandon that I took for granted.
Today, a life time on I whispered it softly, knowing I meant it. Knowing its true complexity and hoping the reply was  heart felt as my journey to it had been.
I will always love easily.

I will say it often and to many people.

Today I am happy to be in a place that accepts it and me for the time before and the time to come.