Love Notes for Family Folks

By Sara DuBose

Over the past several years, I’ve discovered that composing love notes for my husband and children has worked wonders to enrich our family life. If you want to see smiles on your loved one’s faces, try these simple, yet rewarding writing activities, or come up with some creative ideas of your own.

1. Go lavish on love. Mail a love letter to your grown-up daughter’s office. Cram a note into your child’s shoe or backpack. Attach one to a teenager’s mirror or hide it in a favorite magazine. No matter how young or old, every family member needs to know he or she is loved.

2. Be specific in your appreciation. One day, after ironing my husband’s favorite shirt, I stuffed this message in the pocket: “While ironing this shirt, I thought about our home, our love, and all you mean to this family. Thanks for being a terrific husband!

3. Compose a silly jingle. Turn a birthday or any day from ho-hum into special with homemade verses guaranteed to bring a grin of appreciation (even if your rhymes don’t earn you poet laureate of the year!).

4. Boost your family with praise. Write your son a thank-you note for his extra effort on lawn-mowing. When a teen is discouraged, pick one character trait or accomplishment to mention each day of the next week.
Sara DuBose is a motivational speaker and author of four novels: Where Hearts Live, Where Love Grows, Where Memories Linger and A Promise for Tomorrow. She is also author of one non-fiction book called Conquering Anxiety. Her other credits include articles and stories for numerous magazines and she appears in seven anthologies. Sara received a first place fiction award from Putting Your Passion into Print and a first place award from Southeastern Writer’s Association. She currently travels as a speaker for seminars, festivals (Sara was a presenter for the 2009 Alabama Book Festival.), universities and churches. Her website is: www.saradubose.com