When you've got young children who are just learning how to put sentences together, you start to become aware of how often you use the word love. Saying "I LOVE PIZZA!" but then telling your 2-year old you love them too is a bit hard for them to understand - are they only as important to you as your pizza? 

As funny as it sounds, it wasn't until this actually happened to me that I realized how important it was to tell others we love them. On a daily basis, I'll ask Sven "Did you know daddy loves you?" His response of "yeah I know" stayed the same until just a few days ago. We were driving home and his response was a bit different: "What does that mean? What is love?" 

I explained to him that love means you care about someone very very much - they're on your mind in your heart. 

I looked in the rearview mirror as I was telling him this. His response was one I'll never forget. 

"I love you dad." 

Now this isn't the first time he's said that to me, but it was the first time he said it knowing what it really meant. My heart was officially melting. 

That's what this Essential is all about: It's helping to define what love is before reminding someone how much you care. For some of you, it's a conversation you've never had - that's a serious gift for someone who really needs to hear it. 

For me, I've realized that it only was only after I defined what love is that it helped show Sven just how important he was to me. My hope for this Essential is that it'll bring about similar magic moments for you guys as well. 

<3 
Jason