Readers’ Tips for Keeping the Love Alive, Installment I (originally published in True Romance, September 2006)
My fiancé and I each have children from our previous relationships, so most of the time that we spend together is family time, rather than just couple time. We found that we were getting to know each other more as “Mom” and “Dad,” rather than as boyfriend and girlfriend. Both of us had had problems in our first marriages because we had put our kids ahead of our relationships, and we are determined not to allow that to happen to us this time around. It is a real balancing act because, obviously, our kids are very important to us, but we also want to give our relationship the best possible start. To achieve balance, we find that we have to go the extra mile to make the other person feel special. We try to have a “date night” by ourselves one night each week. We also surprise one another with little notes and cards whenever we can. Recently, I bought a bag of Hershey’s Kisses for my fiancé. He seemed pleased with the small gift until he unwrapped a candy and saw that I had replaced the little papers with notes of my own, telling him what I loved most about him and why I was so lucky to have him. When he realized what I had done, the gift took on a whole new meaning. Now we are constantly trying to “top” each other’s romantic gestures. It makes our relationship so much more fun and we are always thinking of new and creative ways to express our love to each other. Our relationship also serves as a wonderful example of love and commitment to our children.
—Diane Sonntag, Valparaiso, IN
Have you ever considered adding more videos to your blog posts to keep the readers more entertained? I mean I just read through the entire article of yours and it was quite good but since I’m more of a visual learner.
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