Learn to say I love you in ten different languages For the last few weeks I fell off the wagon. Maybe not in the literal A.A. sense (maybe a few times, but I’m learning and getting better) but more in the sense of the wagon being my self. I fell away from my passion, my writing. I became overwhelmed with the cares of the world around me that I ceased to function in a way where I was whole and useful. As occurs around the world at every moment of the day, my women rallied around me. We talked. We worried. We cried. We boosted each other up. We listened. We challenged each other’s ideas and encouraged the build-up of confidence. I thank God I am a woman. On that note, I returned to Da Book ready to continue my undertaking of exploration and adventure. My last task was to “Learn how to say I love you in ten different languages.” On the day I chose that task, one that ended in two days of sickness, worry and a trip to a wonderful women’s group with my sister, I wrote down ten phrases on a napkin. I chose ones I was familiar with and ones I was not, I learned about languages and I dreamed of shouting one to my third husband. (For those of you closest to me, you know who that is. Go Coyotes!!!!) After writing them down, I struggled with trying to memorize them. I just kept forgetting a few. Then, I stopped and returned to outside the box. The task was to learn. And, although, one definition of learn is to memorize, another is to discover or become familiar with. I like that. I don’t know why we always have to do things one step better. We’re never satisfied with just being, enjoying and having a comfort with our limitations. I don’t have to always be pushing towards another success at some task. I am okay the way I am—with what I know—with who I am becoming as a creature of God. I will have to remind myself of that every moment. Anyway back to the phrases: 1. Ek het jou lief 2. Wo ai ni 3. Mi aime jou 4. Miluje te 5. Mina rakastan sinua 6. Ich liebe dich 7. Te amo 8. Tom ho’ ichema 9. Iay ovlay ouyah 10. Te iubesc Afrikaans Mandarin Chinese Creole Czech Finnish German Spanish Zuni Pig Latin Romanian
There they are. Ten ways to say I love you. I guess I could have included the English but that wouldn’t be too fun. I chose Afrikaans because it was the first language I came upon on the website giving me my information. Then I learned what it was. Although it is spoken in Africa (South and Namibia), it derives from the 17th century Dutch. I suppose I have to remember that nations have been dominated other nations since forever. I chose Mandarin Chinese because my youngest is fascinated with the Chinese language. I hope he is able to become fluent someday. Creole, I chose, because I loved
New Orleans. The French Creole flare was fun and passionate and exciting. Czech is the phrase I will say many times after I become His hockey wife. The Finnish is a tribute to my time in Lake Linden. What a wonderful social family up there, eh? I even loved a Finn for while. German, I chose, because of my mom’s and my own knowledge of the culture and the language. Maybe someday we will have those phone conversations, Mom? Spanish, I’m familiar with as well. I want to learn fluency in this language. Hopefully the Rosetta Stone I gained in the separation will help with that. I chose Zuni due to the fantastic fetishes Marc and I got while in Zuni, New Mexico. The town was small and looked like many other border towns (although it was a border between Arizona and New Mexico). The shop owner remembered us each time we came through and always gave us a good deal. Marc has snakes, I have a wolf and I gave Matt a buffalo. Maybe he’ll give that to his new girlfriend. Pig Latin, I had to choose. It’s just so funny that that is actually considered a language. Does anyone actually speak that regularly? Then again, look at Latin. My final language is Romanian. One day I will dance with the gypsies and I will scream it at the top of my lungs as I whirl and whirl. Now I am keeping the napkin on the fridge and each time I look at it I get closer to memorizing these phrases. Now if I could only loosen the bars on my heart enough to allow just a shimmer of the meaning to get in. Then, maybe, I will learn to actually love.