Valentine’s Day is filled with roses, chocolates, and heartfelt messages. But love—real, lasting love—goes far beyond the grand gestures. It’s often found in the quiet, everyday moments that don’t make it into greeting cards. In many families, I love you isn’t always spoken. Instead, it’s passed down through traditions, small actions, and even the meals we share.

A father who scrapes the ice off his daughter’s windshield before she wakes up. A grandmother who never lets anyone leave her house without a full belly and a container full of left overs. A sibling who sends a text that simply says, Thinking of you. These gestures may not seem like much, but they speak volumes.

Love, in its truest form, is in the details. Some families express it through food—handwritten recipes stained with years of use, a signature dish that makes everyone feel at home. Others pass it down through rituals—Sunday dinners, morning phone calls, the way a mother always waits at the window until her child is safely inside.

This Valentine’s Day, instead of focusing only on romance, take a moment to recognize the quieter forms of love in your life. And more importantly—preserve them.

Because love, like legacy, is often best remembered in the stories we tell.

Think back to the moments of unspoken love in your own family. Capture them in words, a letter, a recording—so that long after the last meal is shared, the last text sent, and the last light left on, the love that shaped you will still be there, ready to be passed on.