I don't talk to my grandma much, but when I do, before we get off the phone, she says this:

"I love you, baby!"

And I say:

"I love you, too!"

And it doesn't matter what we've talked about. It doesn't matter that we probably spent an hour filling in an entire year for each other with details that are only obliquely related to what we're really saying. ("How's Aunt Jen?" "Oh, Jen is doing fine." means "I heard Aunt Jen's husband has a fatal cancer. I can't even understand how sad she must be." "Jen is so sad, but she doesn't complain.") My grandmother says, "I love you, baby!" in a way that means, "I remember you when you were a real baby, and I have loved you since then. And I still love you, now, because I know that no matter how smart you are and how old you are, you were once a little baby-- and I love you the same."

And I love her, too.