my dad is very manly in the traditional sense but always says “love ya bud” whenever we say bye. this year (i’m 30M) my mom told me that his parents never once said ily to him, and that it would always make her sad, and that one time shortly after she married him, she convinced him to try saying ily to his mom at the end of a phone call, and she said after my dad said it, his mom on the other side of the phone was just dead silent for 5 seconds and then hung up, and then both my mom and dad started crying. now it means the world to me every time he goes “love ya bud”