I was raised to be tough and not show emotion. My dad is 85....he's 6'3" and 220lbs. I have seen him every day since March and he is the main reason I retired from coaching. I love him more than anything, but I cannot bring myself to tell him that or even hug him. Is that weird?
Not weird to me. I was brought up by WWII parents. My Dad served in the Army in Saipan and my mom served at home as a nurses aid. That was a tough generation. They didn't sweat the little stuff because they were always faced with really big stuff. They raised us the same way. There was no pampering us. When we wanted something it was always, "no". LOL. We had to work hard for everything we got. We left the house at sunrise to play with our friends and came back at dinner time. There were no rides to anywhere and no play dates. On holidays our parents kept the children out of the room when adults were present. All the kids were put in another room while the adults engaged in adult conversation. Children really were to be seen and not heard. We learned respect for adults and we never talked back to them the way kids do today. Like you, I never heard my parents say, "I love you" and we rarely hugged after the age of 5. Seeing what I see today, this latest generation are a bunch of weak, angry, unhappy people who wilt at the slightest hardship - not all but many.
It may not have been pretty by today's standards but I think my parents' generation had it right.