I was going to write something else, but I changed my mind. And I know this is corny—believe me, I know—but I love you.
No, It’s true. We probably don’t know each other, but I love you to death. I swear it. I just have a feeling that you need to hear that today.
Anyway, if you do, I’m your guy.
You know what else I love? The cashier in Winn-Dixie. Her name is Linda, she’s from North Alabama, and she talks like it. She and her husband moved here for his job.
She showed me cellphone photos of her parents, brothers, and sisters. She wears a strong face when she talks, but I know homesickness when I see it.
“My mother is coming to town,” she told me. “For vacation, on Monday.”
She was so excited it was blasting through her green eyes.
I love the boy selling magazine subscriptions at my front door. I didn’t want to buy magazines, but that kid deserved a few bucks for being brave enough to knock on a stranger’s door.
I asked why he was selling them. He told me it was because he wanted to earn enough to buy a cutting-edge smartphone.
For his grandmother.
I love Brigette. You’d like her, too. She’s a four-foot-nine stick of dynamite with silver hair.
Her husband has Alzheimer’s. Brigette is his caretaker. She gives everything to him. It’s just who she is. She gives until she’s dry. Then gives more.
I love the white-haired man I saw today. He sat at the intersection with a backpack and a cardboard sign which read: “Going to Tallahassee.”
His name was Gary. His skin was sun-darkened. His son lives in Tallahassee.
I love my neighbor’s dog. The dog has liver cancer. She’s named Libby. Libby has been alive four years longer than the vet predicted.
Libby takes a short walk every day, by herself. Sometimes I see her on the road, limping.
I love my niece. I love my mother-in-law. I love the World Series. I love autumn. And even though it’s taken a long time to feel this way, I love my old boss, who fired me years ago because he was Satan’s best friend.
I love the hoodlum who busted my truck window in a restaurant parking lot, trying to steal my stereo.
And I love the policeman who stared into my shattered window and said, “Why would ANYONE want to break into THIS ugly truck?”
Pretty trucks are just about worthless if you ask me.
I love my father. His last days on this earth were a sort of living hell. A period which I haven’t yet had the courage to write about.
I love my mother, for helping us survive that hell.
I love my friend, Lyle, for making me believe in my own writing. I love my wife. My sister. I love our garbage man.
I love the lilies in our front-yard ditch. I love collard greens, fiddle music, and the smell of granddaddy’s pomade.
I love clean-smelling laundry, campfires, and Conecuh Quickfreeze sausage. Biscuits, when they’re homemade. Cocktail lights.
Maybe I shouldn’t have written this. After all, there’s no real point to it.
But in case you need to hear it today…
Well. You know the rest.
67 comments
Betty King - October 30, 2017 8:15 am
Here’s to your wife, Lyle, collard greens, and old dogs.
Susan Hammett Poole - October 30, 2017 8:55 am
I love you right back, Sean. A twist on an old phrase is this: To read you is to love you.
Terri Thorn - October 30, 2017 9:02 am
EVERYONE can ALWAYS stand to hear that they’re loved – especially if it’s sincere….Which, I believe you are. I don’t think you have an insincere bone in your body Sean Dietrich! Lol. I also think MOST of your other readers feel the same way as I do about you! Take Care & Have A Blessed Week! And, PLEASE keep the stories/feelings/ideas coming because we truly DO LOVE to read & share them!! ??
Linda Parker - October 30, 2017 9:45 am
But there is a point….it is important to recount thing/people/experiences that you love…out loud. It helps others think about our loves and then we smile. Thank you!
Nancy - October 30, 2017 9:51 am
I love reading Sean of the South blogs. Thanks for making me think about everything I love. It makes my heart happy! ?
Christina Brode - October 30, 2017 10:40 am
Dear Sean. I love you too! Your writing has done more to help me learn to live with my fathers passing than anything else.
Jerry Akridge, Ph.D. - October 30, 2017 11:42 am
Sean, my wife and I look forward to your daily messages. They are as good to us, and maybe even better, than a fresh pan of steaming hot homemade biscuits with tupelo honey dribbling down their sides. Please keep ’em coming and know this couple living in north Alabama high atop the rugged sandstone ridges of beautiful Brindley Mountain love you too!
Susan - October 30, 2017 11:52 am
Thank you for reminding us to look with love at everyday things (and people).
Connie - October 30, 2017 12:21 pm
Love to you too. You have enriched my life. Thank you.
Buck Godwin - October 30, 2017 12:25 pm
Sean, your capacity for love is something we should all learn to imitate. It’s exactly what Jesus Christ commanded us to do.
Judy Ennis - October 30, 2017 12:44 pm
Thank you Sean.I love you too.❤️??
PJ Johnson - October 30, 2017 12:55 pm
And, you are loved so dearly back!!! Miss you so at Simple Faith, but nice to have you in my life with your written word
Judy - October 30, 2017 12:56 pm
Thank you, Sean. Sometimes a hug is the one thing a person needs the most. You hug with your honest and simple words. Thank you.
shanatproctorgmailcom - October 30, 2017 1:30 pm
Our pastor’s sermon yesterday was about love. Thanks for the reminder this morning when I was having a really hard time getting going and love was the last thing on my mind. I am looking forward to seeing you this Thursday night in Montgomery, Alabama.
Ellen - October 30, 2017 1:41 pm
I Love you too, Sean! Your writing is a blessing to me! ?
Diana - October 30, 2017 1:47 pm
You have made my day—as you usually do!
Bill Heaton - October 30, 2017 1:57 pm
I love you, too Sean.
Frances Jones - October 30, 2017 2:05 pm
I love you too, Sean. You are sometimes the only bright spot in an otherwise dreary day. May God bless you a thousand fold.
Newell Gay - October 30, 2017 2:13 pm
I love you as I have since friend sent me a copy of your blog. I am well educated but can not put together sentences as you. I do have a regret that I was not informed of your writings earlier in my life. Continue to bring joy to the world/
Love,
Newell
CHARLIE - October 30, 2017 2:23 pm
And I do love the World Series! What a game last night. 1:30 am game over; WOW! It took me until 3 am to finally calm down And get some sleep. Today at work is going to be brutal! Go Astros! Houston Strong!
Michelle - October 30, 2017 2:34 pm
You made me laugh today. I worked for Satan’s best friend, too! But, I fired HIM! 😉
Daniel Lee - October 30, 2017 2:48 pm
Sean you are loved as well. Whether we are at home in California or Lower Alabama, we love and look forward to each of your daily blogs. Keep them coming.
Jeri Bollinger Shuck - October 30, 2017 2:54 pm
I love you, Sean. Most days I can’t get through your post without taking off my glasses and wiping my eyes, but I always feel better and more grateful afterwards. Please don’t stop writing!!!
Susan Kilgas - October 30, 2017 3:17 pm
Love you, too. Some days you are just what I need. You bring back those fine dusty roads and tadpoles of childhood,chigger bites and sticky watermelon juice.Blessings.
Jack Quanstrum - October 30, 2017 3:26 pm
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! That’s a whole alot of Love.
shelly Smith - October 30, 2017 3:53 pm
Thank You, I needed to hear this today! My friends and I always reply with “Love you more”.” Which means love your self more, which I usually do. Thank You for being you, I am so grateful I found your messages. I look forward to them every day. Bless you and your not pretty truck.
Shelly
Carolyn Huggins - October 30, 2017 4:12 pm
Sean, you said that perhaps you shouldn’t have written this…that perhaps there was no point to it….You are so wrong. I’m the type of gal who is always “there” for everyone else…always doing the “random acts of kindness”…it’s just second nature to me…but, no one knows how sad I am inside; I smile a lot on the outside. Today, I was particularly sad (I’ve lost 9 of my dearest family/friends in the last two years, and can’t get beyond the grief; it comes in waves…. no one can understand how that feels). I only wanted someone to “walk by my side” and say “I love you.”…and for some reason that hasn’t happened. I needed someone today to say “I love you.” Your post did have a point to it. It wasn’t silly….thank you, Sean.
Ernest (Skip) Dalle Molle - October 30, 2017 4:24 pm
Thank you Sean. Good timing. Just took a break from working the back yard and sitting on my old wheel barrow filled with limbs. Got to thinking about my good friend Bill who is in a VA facility with Alzheimer’s and his wife, Debbie has given all. Your words hit me and comfort me as love truly is the message I hear and feel in the wetness of my eyes. We are blessed.
Melanie Howell - October 30, 2017 5:29 pm
We need more love. I’ve never seen any stories about a sister?
rustyshouse - October 30, 2017 8:07 pm
Thank you!!!! And I love you too !!!! And I SHARE YOU WITH ALL MY FRIENDS!!!!
Jody - October 30, 2017 8:26 pm
You remind me of the importance of expressing my love. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Mary - October 30, 2017 9:20 pm
I tell everyone about you so they can love you like I do.
Pamela McEachern - October 30, 2017 9:56 pm
LOVE IS ALL WE NEED…All of us.
Peace and Love from Birmingham
Gerald - November 29, 2017 2:37 pm
In the end LOVE is a there is!
Kay - October 30, 2017 10:01 pm
We love you, too!
Pam Sharpe - October 31, 2017 1:09 am
Love you too, Sean. And my quirky friend, Wanda, and my much more serious friend, Robert, and the young guys who dare to dance with this old broad at the local dives. Love your stories and optimism. Pretty please keep it up.
Maryellen Carew - October 31, 2017 2:10 am
Part of “the rest” that I know: I love you, too, Sean.
Melodie - October 31, 2017 2:52 am
We love you, too! ♥
Karen Irby - October 31, 2017 2:19 pm
Oh, Sean, this is something we ALL need to hear every day, and sadly most don’t. Thank you for your love, which encompasses everyone, even sweet old dogs. I love you, too! God bless!
Kathy - October 31, 2017 3:54 pm
I love that reading this made me think about all the things that I love! Love your writing!
paulajwray - November 1, 2017 7:26 pm
And I love the way you write.
June Pryor - November 2, 2017 1:23 am
Well, in case You need it, love you back. And, God loves you.
Beth Ross - November 2, 2017 4:32 am
Hey, you, Sean of the South – I love you, too!
Jane Wood - November 3, 2017 3:47 pm
Love you too! and that you are able to love strangers. God bless.
Karen - November 4, 2017 1:14 am
Boy, did I need it — today ad yesterday and last week and probably tomorrow and next week
Maxine - January 8, 2019 2:15 pm
Karen, I love your honesty and you as a lovely woman. We all need to know we are loved through the days and the years.
Martha - November 5, 2017 3:37 am
Sean, I love my three beautiful, intelligent, sensitive, and caring children that God blessed me with, I am also very proud of! I raised them from ages 11, 9 and 5 as a single mother. I love my family, friends, and Alabama football! I love you Sean for sharing your love through your beautiful and heart felt writings so please keep writing and sharing. Hope one day I will have the pleasure of meeting you, and hear your stories and music! God bless you and your family! If you ever come down to Panama City Beach let us know.
John Masters - November 29, 2017 10:49 am
You actually get it.on most everything. Often feel like I just had the same thoughts
Benjie Friday - November 29, 2017 11:42 am
I LOVE reading your writings. It makes me think of growing up in Alabama….good and bad. Your honesty always shines through…thank you. Love you, too!
Mary - November 29, 2017 12:21 pm
I love you and your writing. You help me keep going.
Diane Rinaldi - November 29, 2017 1:32 pm
I love you, too, Sean of the South ☺?
Maxine Cockerill - November 29, 2017 1:33 pm
Sean, you are a breathe of fresh air in a sometimes dark, dingy world. We all need to be told we are loved, especially when we have lost a beloved husband . Gods greatest command is to love. Love you and what you have to say about life in its many forums .
Laura Goslee - November 29, 2017 1:46 pm
Learning to love… such a powerful journey away from expectations, bitterness, resentments, judgements, darkness…into peace, hope, thankfulness, and light. So thankful to see with eyes of Love now and live in Love. It changes everything.
Thank you for the loving hug today. Thank you for loving as He loved us. Bless you.
Donna Lossett - November 29, 2017 4:09 pm
Donna: So enjoy reading your blog! Sean of the South you brighten my day. Thanks for making me think about everything I love. You never know when that person need a reminder.
Kathy Hyer - November 29, 2017 5:09 pm
I must have worked for the brother of your old boss!
Thanks for you wonderful positive outlook on life and the people you meet along the way. I so look forward to reading what you write. Some days my heart sings and other days my eyes leak!
Sara - March 10, 2018 11:07 am
I do hope to see the world through your eyes again sean. You are truly blessed with a gift that very few see in this lifetime.
Beverly - March 10, 2018 11:51 am
My brother was a Lyle ……I’d love to believe he was your friend…..he would have inspired you for sure.
Kathy Ball - March 10, 2018 12:04 pm
Sean, I just finished my Romans 12:9-21 lesson for Biblestudy, and then read your blog. Here you are living it! Your transparency is God-sent to bless us readers!
Nancy Oswald - March 10, 2018 2:25 pm
I love the fact I found you! Can’t even remember how it happened, but I believe in God’s will and I am grateful.Your words sing the background music of my life.
Judy - March 10, 2018 3:07 pm
I had the pleasure of seeing the show “Fiddler on the Roof” twice last week. Yes. … And there is a song “Do You Love Me?” All through the song, the couple asks each other that question and describe their relationship. Finally, at the end of the song, they agree they “guessed” that they did love each other…agreeing that it was nice to “hear it.” ….I love that show,the story and the thread of truths that runs through it. It is always nice to hear “I love you.”
As another of your readers commented…Sean-“To read you is to love you.”
Gale Smith - March 10, 2018 3:23 pm
Sean, you are good for the soul, and I love you too. And I love your wife and all your family and your dog, and your truck, and all these wonderful people you write about. Your writing is a celebration of life in LA (Lower Alabama).
Gretchen - March 10, 2018 6:27 pm
I love a person who loves so many of the simple things in life. The older I get, the more I know those are really the best things to love. You sweeten my days, Sean!
Carolyn K - January 8, 2019 12:38 pm
Needed to hear this, right back at ya?❤️
Gerald - January 8, 2019 2:02 pm
In the end, LOVE is all there is.
unkle Kenny - January 8, 2019 4:16 pm
The folklore crew loves you too . And in two they will show you . Something in a can for the red headed man . Somthing in a bottle and it aint no genie. uk
Helen Allen - January 8, 2019 4:21 pm
I love you Sean, your writing makes my day brighter. Thank you
Sharon J - January 9, 2019 3:26 am
I Love you is always needed to be said and to be heard! Even though this was written by you, Sean, in 2017 it is still relevant. Love never fails!