Love | Language | Joy

In a light-hearted play called “The Curious Savage,” one of the characters, named “Fairy May,” is feeling mighty low because, as she says, “No one has said they love me this live-long day.” To which a character named “Mrs. Savage” replies, “Why yes they have, Fairy. I heard Florence say it at the dinner table. She said, ’Don’t eat too fast, Fairy.’” “Was that saying that she loved me?” Fairy asks. “Of course,” Mrs. Savage replies. “People say it when they say, ’Take an umbrella, it’s raining,’ or
’Hurry back,’ or even ’Watch out, you’ll break your neck.’ There are hundreds of ways of wording it — you just have to listen for it, my dear.”

Fairy May then says, “My dentist said I had perfect occlusion. Do you think he was telling me that he loved me?” Mrs. Savage answers, “What else?” And Fairy May, all aglow with that refreshing good news, says, “Oh, thank you. I’ve been missing so much. Oh! My…