"I'm sure she knows,"I said, reaching over and touching his hands rough, carpenter's hands that were gripping the cup as if it were the only thing he had to hang onto"but she needs to hear it, Bill. She needs to hear what she has meant to you all these years. Please think about it."

We walked back to Connie's room. Bill disappeared inside, and I left to visit another patient. Later, I saw Bill sitting by the bed. He was holding Connie's hand as she slept. The date was February 12.

Two days later I walked down the hospice ward at noon. There stood Bill, leaning up against the wall in the hallway, staring at the floor. I already knew from the head nurse that Connie had died at 11 A.M.

When Bill saw me, he allowed himself to come into my arms for a long time. His face was wet with tears and he was trembling. Finally, he leaned back against the wall and took a deep breath.

"I have to say something,"he said."I have to say how good I feel about telling her."He stopped to blow his nose."I thought a lot about what you said, and this morning I told her how much I loved her and loved being married to her. You shoulda2 seen her smile!"

I went into the room to say my own good bye to Connie. There, on the bedside table, was a large Valentine card from Bill. You know, the sentimental kind that says, "To my wonderful wife I love you."

大多数人需要听到那“三个小字”——我爱你。有时他们就会在最需要的时候听到。

我在康妮住进收容所病房的那天见到了她。我在那儿当义工。把她从轮床抬上病床时，她的丈夫比尔焦虑不安地站在旁边。虽然康妮处于和癌症搏斗的晚期，但她仍然神智清醒，精神愉快。我们把她安顿好。我在医院提供给她使用的所有用品上标上她的名字，然后问她是否需要什么。

“啊，是的，”她说，“请告诉我怎么用电视好吗?我非常喜欢肥皂剧，想随时跟上进展情况。”康妮是个浪漫的人。她酷爱肥皂剧、浪漫小说和讲述美好爱情故事的电影。随着我们越来越熟，她向我吐露说，跟一个经常叫她“傻女人”的男人生活了32年有多么沮丧。

“唉，我知道比尔爱我，”她说道，“可是他从来不说他爱我，也不给我寄贺卡。”她叹了口气，朝窗外庭院里的树望去。“如果他说声‘我爱你'，我愿意付出一切，可这根本不是他的性格。”

比尔每天都来探望康妮。一开始，康妮看肥皂剧，他就坐在床旁。后来，她睡的时候多了，比尔就在屋外走廊里踱来踱去。不久，康妮不再看电视了，醒的时候也少了，我开始花更多的义工时间和比尔在一起。

他谈到他一直是个木工，他多么喜欢钓鱼。他和康妮没有孩子，但他们四处旅游，享受着退休生活，直到康妮得病。对他妻子病危这一事实，比尔无法表达他的感受。

一天，在自助餐厅喝咖啡时，我设法和比尔谈起女人这个话题，谈到生活中我们多么需要浪漫，多想收到充满柔情蜜意的卡片和情书。