Gone...but not forgotten.
by Linda Williams
How many of you have husbands, wives or partners who need to travel away from home on business for days or weeks at a time? There are numerous ways, small or big, to convey our love and support by showing them just how much they are missed and thought of every day. Of course, there are the usual ways of keeping in touch - via phone calls, SMS, letters and emails, but there are many other special, personalized ways of expressing your feelings that will not only please them but will be a lovely, unexpected surprise which need not necessarily be expensive.
Loving Reminders
You don't even have to wait until your partner is away from home, as leaving little surprise notes and gifts around the house at any time can put a spark back into your relationship by showing your loved one that they are important to you and are not just taken for granted. Try leaving a thoughtful, loving note left in a wallet or purse, inside the laptop, lunchbox, wet-pack, stuck on a mirror - how about pinned to a bath towel? Use your imagination.
Sweet Ideas at home.
One of my favourite things to have in the house is a packet of heart shaped 'conversation' lollies [sometimes even the discount stores sell these] - they usually have lovely little sentiments written on them and can be used as a simple token of affection and are perfect for leaving on a pillow or computer or placing in a wallet, purse wet- pack, camera case or, as I've done - hidden one half way down a jar of my man's favourite fruit and nut nibbles.
While Away
If your partner is staying in a hotel while away, you could arrange for a single rose, chocolates or anything of your choosing to be delivered to their room and placed on their pillow with a special note from you telling them how much they are missed. 'Darrell Lea' chocolate stores in Australia (and perhaps local stores in other countries) have chocolate hearts [approx. 8cmx8cm] which are wrapped in red foil and are perfect for hiding somewhere where they can be found easily.
Books and Poetry
Have a browse in one of the many bookstores where you'll find a selection of books containing poetry, words of love or humour, anything at all that might relate personally to the both of you. A lovely little book available is called the 'Blue Day Book' - wonderful photographs with witty little words written on each page. There are now more titles available written by the same author -well worth a look. When my partner travelled overseas recently, I found a lovely little book titled 'You and Me' which I packed into his suitcase, but within this book, I also included an envelope containing copies of letters, photos etc that were meaningful to him. I used my computer to write a message on the front saying 'A Few Special Memories to get you through the nights'. He was very touched and appreciative of the effort I had made.
Creative expressions of Love
There are other ways of putting your computer to good use if you have one - one idea is to make a wallet or purse size collage of family photos which can be laminated to protect them. A printing store could make one for you or you could simply cut out the photos and glue them onto cardboard of a suitable size.
I found a website with a free program to make your own 'Find-a-Word' puzzle using your own lists of words of special significance which are to be found within the puzzle and you can even have the remaining letters reveal a 'Hidden Special Message'. You can make this puzzle as large or small as you like but remember the bigger it is the longer the list of search words that you'll need.
URL: http://puzzlemaker.school.discovery.com/WordSearchSetupForm.html
All these are simple little ways of showing the person who you love that they are cared for and 'not forgotten' whether they are home or away on business. It only takes a moment of your time to put a smile on the faces of the ones you love the most.
Written by a romantic at heart.