Love Is Just a Thread

Sometimes I really doubt whether there is love between my parents. Every day they are very busy tring to earn money in order to pay the high tuition for my brother and me.

They don't act in the romantic ways that I read in books or I see on TV. In their opinion, I love you is too luxurious for them to say.

One day, my mother was sewing a quilt. I silently sat beside her. Mum, is there love between you and Dad? I asked in a very low voice.

My mother stopped her work and raised her head with surprise in her eyes.

She didn't answer immediately. Then she bowed her head and continued to sew the quilt.

I was very worried becasue I thought I had hurt her. I was in a great embarrassment and I did not know what I should do.

But at last I heard my mother say the following words:

Susan, she said thoughtfully, Look at this thread. Somtimes it appears,  but most of it disappears in the quilt. The thread really makes the quilt strong and durable.

If life is a quilt, then love should be a thread. It can hardly be seen anywhere or anytime, but it is really there. Love is inside.

I listened carefully but I couldn't understand her until the next spring. At that time, my father suddenly got seriously sick.

My mother had to stay with him in the hospital for a month. When they returned from the hospital, they both looked very pale. It seemed both of them had a serious illness.
After they were back, every day in the morning and at dusk, my mother helped my father walk slowly on the country road. 

My father had never been so gentle. It seemed they were the most harmonious couple.

Along the country road, there were many beautiful flowers, green grass and trees. The sun gently glistened through the leaves. All of these made up the most beacutiful picture in the world.

The doctor had said my father would recover in two months. But after two months he still could not walk by himself. All of us were worried about him.

Dad, how are you feeling now? I asked him one day.

Susan, do not worry about me.he said gently. To tell you the truth, I just like walking with your mom. I like this kind of life.

Reading his eyes, I know he loves my mother deeply.
Once I thought love meant flowers, gifts and sweet kisses. But from this experience, I understand that love is just a thread in the quilt of our life.

Love is inside, making life strong and warm.