On the Eleventh Day of Christmas…
A few years ago one of my co-workers gave her husband an amazingly simple, and yet deeply meaningful, gift. He enjoyed reading so she made him a bookmark, but it wasn’t just any old bookmark. She made him a book mark filled with pictures and beneath each picture she listed reasons why she respected him. She laminated it and gave it to her manly husband for his birthday. Although I don’t think he wept openly, it was clear that he was deeply touched by it.
We all need to know how our loved ones feel about us. We are never promised another moment with them and it’s important for them to know how we feel and for us to know how they feel. Something tangible (and useful), like a bookmark, is a constant reminder that he is loved, respected, and revered by his family.
What is a fun, meaningful way you can tell your loved one how much he or she means to you this Christmas? You could have something made for him or her that has pictures and sayings on it. You could make something for him or her yourself. As long as it’s from the heart, it should be well received. A few Christmases ago, I made books for Mom and Dad. I retold some of my favorite stories about them from my childhood. I listed my favorite mom-isms and dad-isms – and I told them the lessons they had taught me. It was fun remembering my childhood as I wrote them, and they had a lot of fun reading them. Mom said they were “treasures.”
Find a way to tell your honey how much you care about him or her this Christmas. Try to put it into an item they can review at their leisure. If your sweetheart is a words of affirmation type person, it will mean the world to him or her. If not, it will still mean a lot, even if he or she is not as quick to show it.
On the Twelfth Day of Christmas…
It is no secret that my favorite flower is the traditional red rose. Call me boring, but I just think they are so incredibly beautiful. My husband gave me a dozen red roses when he proposed to me, along with heather (as I’d never previously been given or seen my namesake’s flower); and we also had red roses at our wedding.
When Eric proposed, he gave me a card that had a picture of a rose on the front and said, “I have a dozen….” The inside of the card said, “… reasons why.” He opened a box of roses, and as he handed me each rose, he gave me a reason why he wanted to marry me. It was perfect.
This gift idea is more for the gentlemen, but if your man loves flowers, ladies you can consider this idea too. Find your honey’s favorite flower and find a creative way to make a gift out of it. It doesn’t have to be an actual flower. You can find other items that resemble their favorite flower (picture frame, candle holder, etc.) and give it to them with a picture of the two of you or with a favorite candle fragrance. If you are low on cash, but artsy, you could make flowers, paint flowers, draw flowers, or sculpt flowers. For a lot of women, flowers have a way of brightening up a room, and they say “I love you and you mean a lot me” to most ladies.
(Side Note: Men, don’t get in the habit of getting your lady flowers as a way of “apologizing” for wrong doings. If you do, she and your future children may begin to associate flowers with painful memories. Learn to communicate and apologize with words and actions. Let flowers be something that is only associated with happy memories.)
How can you incorporate your love’s favorite flower into your Christmas? Maybe you could save flowers from special occasions, dry them out, and then give them to her in a special box with notes attached to each one, reminding her of each flower’s significance. This would be a tremendous gift for the truly sentimental person, and a sacrificial gift to give if you are not sentimental yourself. ~smile~
May you have a holiday season filled with flowers and heartfelt, verbal exchanges!
What was the most meaningful gift you ever received?