I was going to write something else, but I changed my mind. And I know this is corny—believe me, I know—but I just wanted to say I love you.
No, I really mean it. 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. And with everything going on in the world right now, if you truly do need to hear those words, 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 to Florida for his job and she’s homesick. I can tell.
She showed me cellphone photos of her parents, brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, and grandbaby. She wears a strong face when she talks, but I know that look. It’s a mournful, heartsore look.
“My sister is coming to town,” she told me, a complete stranger. “For vacation, on Monday. I’m so excited.”
She was so thrilled it was blasting through her green eyes.
I also love the kids selling magazine subscriptions at my front door. I didn’t want to buy magazines, but those children deserved a few bucks for being brave enough to knock on a stranger’s door. When you’re that age, there’s nothing harder than drumming up conversations with adults.
I asked why the kids were selling them. One told me, “Sir, I want to earn enough to buy a smartphone for my grandmother so we can keep in touch with her.”
Then his friend whispered, “I thought your grandma passed away.”
I love Margaret. You’d like her, too. She’s a stick of dynamite. Her husband has Alzheimer’s. She is his caregiver. She gives everything to him. It’s just who she is. She gives until she’s dry. Then she gives some more.
I love the white-haired man I saw today. He stood at the intersection with a backpack and a cardboard sign which read: “Going to Tallahassee.” He said his name was Gary. His skin was sun-darkened. He also said his son lives in Tallahassee and he needs money to get there. He said he hasn’t seen his son in fifteen years.
Most people, of course, will think Gary is lying. They think the cardboard sign is a ruse, and that he is only an alcoholic trying to get money. Maybe he is.
That’s his business. Not mine. Alcoholics need to eat just like anyone else.
I love my neighbor’s dog. The dog has liver cancer. She is 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 nieces. I love baseball. I love the end of summer, the approaching autumn, and crickets. 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. Not that I’m bitter.
I love the hoodlum who busted my truck window in a restaurant parking lot long ago, trying to steal my stereo. I still can’t figure out why my ratty stereo was apparently worth the trouble. If he wanted it badly enough I would have paid him to take it.
And I love the patrolman who stared into the shattered window of my ugly truck and said, “Why would anyone want to break into THIS vehicle?”
Pretty trucks are worthless if you ask me.
I love my father. His last days on this earth were a sort of living hell. A period which took me years to summon the courage to write about. I love my mother, for helping us survive that hell.
I love my friends for making me believe in my own writing when I didn’t. I love my wife. My sister. My dogs. And squirrels.
I love our garbage man. He always toots the truck horn when our vehicles pass on the street. We’re just kinda friends.
I love the water lilies in our front-yard ditch. I love collard greens, fiddle music, “Hee Haw” reruns, and the smell of Youth Dew bath powder. I love my mother-in-law.
I love clean-smelling laundry, campfires, Conecuh sausage, old fellowship halls, and the unique scent of a kindergarten classroom—like play-dough and old brownies.
Biscuits, when they’re homemade. Cocktail lights at night. Babies. Tom T. Hall. Don Williams. Billy Graham. The way my heart feels when someone tells me I remind them of my late father. The way my wife looks when she holds a child.
I love peanut butter. Pecan brittle. A fresh peach. Dothan, Alabama. And I love life itself, even though it’s far from perfect. Even though life hurts.
Maybe I shouldn’t have written this since there’s no real point to it. But in case you needed to hear it today…
Well. You know the rest.
107 comments
M - August 13, 2021 6:25 am
Thank you – I needed THAT! You won’t believe how many “mentions” I can relate to – it’s uncanny. Keep ’em coming – great insight!
Vincent Boles - August 13, 2021 10:14 am
Thank you Sean
Amy Flanagan - August 15, 2021 2:06 pm
Thank goodness you push to write so many can be inspired to remember and appreciate the Goodness life brings….Love does hurt and brings us to the better us! Thank you! I love you too!
blake todd - August 13, 2021 6:27 am
SWEET!
Bob E - August 13, 2021 6:28 am
Couldn’t count all the times you wrote ‘love’.
I love that…
orgillian - August 13, 2021 6:29 am
And thanks for once again focusing on what’s good about this world. We often get so wrapped up in the ugliness of covid, politics, racism, etc that it’s easy to forget that there’s more to life than those negatives.
Amy Baker - August 13, 2021 6:43 am
I miss the south… Thank you!
Carole W. - August 13, 2021 6:45 am
I love you too, Sean! A couple of years ago I gave a Dallas panhandler a couple of bucks for originality. His sign read, “My family was kidnapped and I need money for karate lessons so I can get them back”!
Joyce hodder - August 13, 2021 2:15 pm
That was a good laugh
David Charles Clubb - August 13, 2021 7:19 am
Love you too man! And Jaime and Mother Mary too! Love you all!
Christina - August 13, 2021 7:21 am
You are a love angel who happens to write 😇
Linda - August 13, 2021 7:43 am
Thank you, Sean! As I read the of the persons/things you love I was mentally making my own list and it will be long because I think the older you get you learn to appreciate the people that the good Lord brings into your life! I’m new to your channel (blog?) and appreciate your willingness to share Miss Mary with us. Her homecoming will be more beautiful because you and your wife are covering her with so much love!
Larry R. Terry - August 13, 2021 7:53 am
Thank you, brother.
kv - August 13, 2021 8:11 am
And I love that YOU love. What an absolute joy this was to read! Thank you for sharing your loves with us. You were right in thinking we needed that. And it needed to be shared by nobody else but you in your very own gifted style. God bless you, my friend. ♥️🪴
Amy - August 13, 2021 11:28 am
What a wonderful way to start this day! Thank you Sean I needed that. Love you too! God bless you friend.
Martha Black - August 13, 2021 8:14 am
Oh and…. by the way, you can tell me you love me any time you want to……. I appreciate it, and back at cha…….
Mary Ann Ludwig - August 13, 2021 8:16 am
Love is never wrong and never needs justification. The point always exists. Continue to write about your life. Forever. We will always need to hear it.
Debbie g - August 13, 2021 8:35 am
I did need that today we all need to be loved Passing the love on to you and your family and all of us.
Norma Den - August 13, 2021 8:53 am
I’m also caring for a husband with Alzheimer’s, but can’t begin to be like Margaret. It’s so confusing for the spouse, not knowing what the other needs or wants. I’m blessed to have a daughter & family living on same premises, she’s a trained nurse & specialist midwife, but without her id be lost. I too needed someone to tell me in more ways than one that someone loves me. I love you too Sean. God bless all three of you.
Judy Allmon - August 13, 2021 9:00 am
Hi Sean, your positive comments and love make me feel better; we should all take time to list the people & things we love, and count our blessings as your mother taught you to do as a child when you had trouble falling asleep. Thank you. Continue loving and holding on to life. I love you too, but more importantly , God loves you and sees what a caring soul and servant you are.
Steve McCaleb - August 13, 2021 9:07 am
That hit close to home son. Thank you….I really needed that. I think we all do. In this time of madness there IS something we all all do…..we can be grateful for the things we love. Thanks again…….
Morton Vice - August 13, 2021 9:33 am
Maybe I shouldn’t write this because there’s no real point to it. But in case you needed to hear it today… I love you and all that you do.
Beth A Kinstler - August 13, 2021 10:02 am
I started reading and began to cry, then laugh, then did both together. It’s always an emotional rollercoaster reading your blogs but we’ll worth it. Thank you, Sean
Rodney Kay - August 13, 2021 10:08 am
Thank you; I needed that this morning.
Janet W. - August 13, 2021 10:12 am
Ah….Tom T. Hall! If I remember correctly, ” I love little baby ducks, old pick-up trucks, slow moving trains, and rain….” Thanks for reminding me!
flacbe - August 13, 2021 10:20 am
love ya back
Joan Moore - August 13, 2021 10:26 am
Love and prayers
Lander - August 13, 2021 10:41 am
Thanks, Sean. Nice reminder. Love you, man.
Suzi - August 13, 2021 10:54 am
Thank you, I love you too🐚
Beth Ann Chiles - August 13, 2021 10:57 am
Love you, too.
Mark F - August 13, 2021 11:09 am
Love me some Conecuh sausage…..makes me think of many a breakfast with my uncle and aunt in Whatley, Alabama
Kathy Browning - August 13, 2021 11:18 am
. . .and I love Sean Dietrich. Your heart and soul speak love!
Pondcrane - August 13, 2021 11:19 am
Wow, you just changed my entire day. I Love you, Sean.
Annie D Sommers - August 13, 2021 11:26 am
Yes I needed to hear those words and I love you Sean Dietrich.
Zadie Peters - August 13, 2021 11:29 am
I love your column 😊
Patricia A Schmaltz - August 13, 2021 11:32 am
And we love you back. Double time. Not that this is a competition.
Linda Vaughan - August 13, 2021 11:35 am
What a perfect reminder for the rest of us to think about people and things we love!
Susan - August 13, 2021 11:39 am
Thank you for this column. I’m going to start writing down all the things I love each day.
Bar - August 13, 2021 11:40 am
We’ll never meet, so I won’t ever be able to tell you how much your words inspire me … to persevere, to laugh, to cry, to work toward healing in all things, to love. I love the things you love, Sean, and I love you.
Lisa Wilson - August 13, 2021 11:47 am
Love you Sean!
Pam Ames - August 13, 2021 11:58 am
Love is the essence of a life well-lived. Your words today were very meaningful and poignant. Thank you!
Karen - August 13, 2021 12:00 pm
Sean, thank you for your love. You have brightened my day and reminded me of all that I love and value. Sending prayers and love to you and your family.
Steven Smith - August 13, 2021 12:06 pm
Faith, hope, and love…and the greatest of these is…well, you know the rest.
Jan - August 13, 2021 12:07 pm
Right back at you, Sean. I love you, your precious family and your beautiful words which lift my heart and make me cry with joy!
Judy Beaver Waldrop - August 13, 2021 12:07 pm
And we love you too
Samantha - August 13, 2021 12:11 pm
Musical recommendation: Dawes – “All Your Fvorite Bands”. Find it and listen. You’re welcome.
Lovely words today.
Iris Hamlin - August 13, 2021 12:17 pm
I love and appreciate you, Sean.
Michelle Bethune - August 13, 2021 12:24 pm
…and I love you Sean. You always seem to remind me of the good in the world and I’m so grateful we found each other 🙂
Pamela Williams - August 13, 2021 12:24 pm
And I love you and yours, Sean!
Richard Owen - August 13, 2021 12:36 pm
When we first moved to Carrollton, GA, in 2012, we contracted our trash with a local company. After a couple of years with them, my wife was taking out the trash can when he pulled up. Isiah Hall was out of his truck fast, ran down and took the can from her, dumped it and brought it back to the garage. Just a little thing to him but it meant the world to us. Several years later, he left that company to go with another firm for better money. I have not been able to keep up with him but I still remember how he treated us old folks with respect. We always remembered him during the holidays even though he would try and not take the yearly gift from us. I hope he and his family are doing well in these trying times.
Donna Xander - August 13, 2021 12:43 pm
Love you more. Needed this so….because it’s Friday the 13th and the wrong damned day to be seeing the oral surgeon. (I’m whining in anticipation.) love being in this giant love bubble with you.
Kyle Viertel - August 13, 2021 12:45 pm
Just, thank you, Sean🤓
I love you, too.
Gay Talbott - August 13, 2021 12:46 pm
Ditto dear one!
CHARALEEN WRIGHT - August 13, 2021 12:54 pm
❤
Suellen - August 13, 2021 1:02 pm
You and I would get along just fine. I love people. All people. Most people look back at me like I’m crazy. Especially those curmudgeons that I love the most. The ones who have wrapped their hurts around themselves so tight that they’ve built a wall to keep people out. I once worked with a guy that everyone avoided. He had a nasty temper but he was really good at his job. He became my go to guy. He would explode at me and I would wait and he finally said “you’re not going away, are you?” He cried like a baby when they laid me off. Or when I worked for the State and they sat me next to a black woman. She was working in a sea of white faces. She’d had a hard life and had the scars to prove it. I kept talking to her. I’m impervious to stony glares. We eventually became lunch buddies and I found she had such a beautiful soul. Or the man I met who had come out of a mental institution. I taught him the value of a hug and before you know it he was hugging everybody. I’m showing my love to the lawn guys today with Amazon gift cards. I show my love at church and with family with my cooking and baking. I’m not tooting my own horn. I feel like I give so much love to people because I get so much back. I’m the one who needs it most and for that I thank you for telling me that you love me today. I needed to hear that and I hope you know, Sean, how much we love you back.
Marcia Reichert - August 13, 2021 1:05 pm
The
World would be a lot better if everyone felt this way‼️
Paul McCutchen - August 13, 2021 1:15 pm
Amen brother Amen
Judith Lane - August 13, 2021 1:19 pm
I DID need to hear this today! Thank you so much!❤️
Becky Cantrell - August 13, 2021 1:20 pm
Gee golly. I didn’t want to cry this early! Just want to let you know we love you too, by we I mean my whole family. It was my sister and brother-in-law who kinda stalked you out a couple months back and you absolutely made her day, no year! We have all passed around the books you autographed for her and admired the picture you took the time to take with her. Our mom is passing away too, just a little slower, that’s how Alzheimer’s usually works, it chips away at you a small piece at a time. I’m getting ready to go care for her this morning. So know you and Jamie are not alone on this journey of watching someone you dearly love take their final journey. Didn’t mean to go in so long but gosh, we love you too! ( btw they were the folks in that big fancy truck)
Kate - August 13, 2021 1:25 pm
I now live in Florida, moved here a year ago to help take care of an elderly aunt and uncle. I miss Georgia, and my friends and families, but now I think when it is time to move again, I should move to Alabama. 😊
Lee - August 13, 2021 1:26 pm
The Healing Power of Love.
Absolutely essential.
https://vernoncoleman.org/articles/healing-power-love
Gayle Wilson - August 13, 2021 1:26 pm
Sean, we love you too…and Jamie and Mother Mary and the wonderful stories that you write that brighten our lives and make us remember that life is not as ugly and as bad as it looks so many times.
Molly - August 13, 2021 1:30 pm
Love this column! Love you! Thank you for reminding me how many things I do love! What this world needs now is love sweet love!!!! And you just gave us love!
Linda J Hendrix - August 13, 2021 1:34 pm
I love your thoughts today, just as much as every single one of your writings. Thank you! I feel I can speak for those of us reading this, we love you, Sean. Cheers & many blessings.
Trudy Gale - August 13, 2021 1:44 pm
My mother, Mary, nicknamed Boots, died two and half weeks ago. I’m missing her love so it was nice that you shared your love today. I look forward to reading your blog every morning. Thanks, Sean and love you too.
beachdreamer1 - August 13, 2021 1:48 pm
So much to love when you really think about it. Thank you for the reminder Sean. There WAS a point to your writing this….just read all the comments. So many needed these words…we don’t say them enough. God bless you, Jamie and Mother Mary. Prayers for all ❤️
Lana - August 13, 2021 1:50 pm
You always have a point! Love you too.
Stacey Wallace - August 13, 2021 1:57 pm
I love you, too, Sean. Thanks!
Maggie Priestaf - August 13, 2021 1:59 pm
“I love Margaret”. Well, I’m not that Margaret but that’s my name and I needed to hear/see that today. Thank you, Sean
Elizabeth - August 13, 2021 2:08 pm
Thank you for sharing your words with me every morning. As someone who was raised in a small town in the South, I can visualize in my mind so many of your memories that match my own. Love and Grace to you and your family.
Rikki - August 13, 2021 2:17 pm
Tomorrow will mark 14 years since I lost my husband. Yes, I needed to hear this today. Thank you Sean.
Susan - August 13, 2021 2:21 pm
There was a point Sean, to remind us that there are good people and people in need all around us. We just need to open our eyes as it’s most often in the simple things and the people we would have overlooked had we not paid attention.. Thank you for sharing.
Lee - August 13, 2021 2:21 pm
The Healing Power of Love
https://vernoncoleman.org/articles/healing-power-love
Joy Rogers - August 13, 2021 2:42 pm
Sean how did you know I really needed to hear that today!
Bill Harris - August 13, 2021 2:47 pm
Thank you Sean. I love you and your writing. It blesses me.
mollytoddmccgmailcom - August 13, 2021 3:00 pm
What a perfect way to start my birthday! I love you more than ever because you gave me this gift of looking around and feeling so much love all around me! Your blog is one of the best I’ve read because it is so positive. Keep up the good work and give Mother Mary a kiss from me–I have lived those last days, too, and they were such a privilege!
Patricia Gibson - August 13, 2021 3:06 pm
Love you too, Sean❤️
Robyn - August 13, 2021 3:16 pm
I love you too Sean..and Mother Mary & her lovely daughter your wife. So thankful for all of you!
Sandra Wolfe - August 13, 2021 3:16 pm
Sean, today was the perfect day to hear about what/who you love. With the country in the condition we’re in it’s the perfect time to hear about LOVE.!!! Maybe it will put our minds to what we love and not about the negative things around us. Thank you Sean for letting your love light shine.
Janet McDonald - August 13, 2021 3:29 pm
Love you back
Joe Fowler - August 13, 2021 3:36 pm
This was for me. Often wondered why I enjoyed our visits so much. You love Collards!! NowI know.
Michael Wenberg - August 13, 2021 3:43 pm
Thanks, Sean! You are a real gem! Love you, too. And I love my old dog Gracie. She’s breathing heavily under my desk, and is so hobbled I wonder how much longer she’ll be around. I love my old Caddie that was crushed by a dead tree on Saturday. It was christened Mr. Shagger by my wife’s cousin, a blues musician. When I asked him why I should call it Mr. Shagger he said, “what else would you call a red Cadillac?” Sure enough. I haven’t driven Mr. Shagger much the past year or so, not since the Chinese Wuhan Virology Lab virus shut down our offices and had me working remotely. My wife and I don’t “need” three vehicles. So I was planning on selling him this month. Now he’s dead. . .totaled. I must confess I got a little teary eyed when I saw him sitting there brained by the tree. Not how I picture his end. Anyway, I love my Caddie, love my wife, too, love the fresh green beans we’re eating from my garden, love blackberries, free for the picking right now just about everywhere you look, love bike riding with my wife, something we did along the Discovery Trail yesterday, between Sequim and Port Angeles, love my daughter and son-in-law and our two grandbabies, so far away in Japan in right. . .okay, you got me going and getting teary eyed. Thanks again, Sean.
Kim Kennedy - August 13, 2021 3:44 pm
Love this! And I love you for writing it!
Brenda - August 13, 2021 3:56 pm
Your words inspire. I love you too.
tammymoody - August 13, 2021 3:59 pm
Thanks Sean. I love you, too. I really do!
Joann Thompson - August 13, 2021 4:03 pm
Back at’cha, Sean. Your column helps me get through the day
Cathy Moss - August 13, 2021 4:10 pm
What the world needs now is love, sweet love. It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of. Dionne Warwick sang, Burt Baccarat wrote it and you just spread all over our Friday. In fact Sean, you spread love every day that you write this column. What a gift to spread love every single day. I love you too and just so you know, I love big🥰
Sue - August 13, 2021 4:27 pm
Once again you have made me stop and think, thank you
dear Sean❤️
Gary Farmer - August 13, 2021 4:45 pm
Yes! I really needed to hear it. Thank you for lifting me up. God Bless you.
Cynthia Russell - August 13, 2021 5:22 pm
Thank You for loving me.. I love you & your words & your heart!!
Dennis Browne - August 13, 2021 5:36 pm
Yes I needed that … as another truckload of people did as well. Thank you. -Dennis (( 1st time I ever commented on your stuff ))
Cheri Johnston - August 13, 2021 5:43 pm
I love you too💘💘
Mary Anne Weisiger - August 13, 2021 6:33 pm
Thanks for loving Dothan. My oldest and youngest sons live there, I’m fond of Dothan too. I just wish I could get there more often, four grand children and two granddogs, as well as daughters – in- love live there . I love it when you write about Wicksburg, where my kids are in school, and all the other places you mention that I have visited over the last 18 years. Bless you. Praying for your family and Miss Mary.
Daisy H Parvin - August 13, 2021 6:55 pm
I love you, Sean.
MAM - August 13, 2021 7:49 pm
Of course, you had a point. The point was that love is everywhere. Sometimes, we just have to pay attention to it. Thanks, Sean, as always for your inspiring words. Love to you, Jamie and Mother Mary.
Ann - August 13, 2021 9:29 pm
Your columns are always full of love and as I read this one through the chuckles and smiles my heart rate and blood pressure returned to normal and I have a greater love for life through you….bless you!
Linda Moon - August 13, 2021 9:58 pm
It’s not corny. “The Storyteller” sang this well…”and I love you, too.” I’ve loved lots of folks similar to those you described, but I’m not sure I could be as magnanimous as you to some of Satan’s pals I’ve met. Your courage to write about John Dietrich is one of the reasons I loved you from the first time I met you, and it’s helped many of us survive the hell of suicide. My name is Linda, I’m not a Winn-Dixie cashier, but I’ve spent a lot of time in North Alabama. So, I’ll just close with – Love, Linda.
Ralph Michael Turner - August 13, 2021 11:08 pm
Love is all there is………..
Frances Montgomery - August 14, 2021 2:26 am
I love you, too
Dianne - August 14, 2021 3:58 am
We all need to hear those words, Sean, and know that you are loved by many as well. Thank you!
Dru Brown - August 14, 2021 11:47 am
Dothan, Alabama, loves you, too. Good morning!
Jim Sirmans - August 15, 2021 1:52 am
We love you too….
Neil - August 15, 2021 1:27 pm
For some of the things you love, you gave a reason; others, none. I suspect the reasons are just more things you love, and that we don’t Luv for any other reason then, it is our nature. We are most who we are when we simply love.
Mary Portwood Artley - August 15, 2021 4:37 pm
I “discovered” you a few months ago. I have now read all your books and always look forward to my daily email with your well chosen words all wrapped into a great story. From my heart to yours, I love you, too ❤️❤️
brenjsan611770 - August 15, 2021 5:06 pm
Peace, Love and Joy!
Cheryl Andrews - August 16, 2021 1:18 am
Thank you! I love you too!
Donna Ledford - August 25, 2021 4:13 am
A friend shared one of your articles and I loved it so she signed me up. I look forward to your words, thoughts, sharing yourself. I treasure the relationship with your Mother-in-law and your willingness to share her journey. It is an honor to walk with someone as you did, thank you. I love you, your openness, honesty, and freedom to just be. Grateful you listened to your friends instead of the doubting voice and that weren’t permanently scared when Mary walked into your home with impeccable timing. You should love your life, it’s such a gift to so many.