just so you know, i do speak fluent italian, but i wrote a poem years ago that was trying to include interpretations of what it might mean in English. i'm editing it now, and i would love some possible translations. for now, all i have in my mind is "i want well for you," but that sounds terrible. it sounds like you care about the person, but that perhaps you would prefer to care about them from afar.

that's certainly not what the italians mean when they say it, no?
you're right about the family part - here you would never say "ti amo" or "i love you" to your parents. that's only for your significant other, really. for one's parents it's "ti voglio bene!"