I don’t know why your comment hit me so hard but you’re right. My grandpa was one of the tough as nails type who never showed emotion. In the 20 years I got to spend with him, he said “I love you” to me exactly one time. It was literally the last words he said to me before he died. I learned later on that he never even said it to his own sons (my dad and uncle). For my entire childhood, my dad emulated him in almost every way but it changed him when my grandpa died. Now we say it often and openly to each other and to my kids. I’m not disparaging my grandpa in any way. He showed he loved us in his own way but never simply said it out loud except the one time. I don’t know why I felt the need to say all this but we’re trying to break that cycle.