Contemplating the muse

I received the following poem, penned by one of PRIME's regular contributing poets, Arthur Rein, while I was working on the feature for this month's issue. It seemed to fit this issue's theme of "What is Romance?" so well that I wanted to be certain to include it somewhere in the paper. With page space dwindling as the layout progressed, I decided to give this beautiful little verse a chance in the spotlight. Thank you, Arthur, for such a moving picture of romance. SILHOUETTES As the star is to the sky, And a wave is to the sea, Ever close to you am I, Every close are you to me. See the blossoms on the vine, Can't you see how they entwine? Heart-to-heart and face-to-face, Images of our embrace. Arthur Rein Arthur's poem so much captures the message relationship author Jamie Cat Callan was trying to share with me and through me, with PRIME's readers about the importance of working to maintain that new-love feeling throughout all the seasons of a long-term love affair. Callan's advice about husbands and wives working to "present" themselves to each other . to continually show their partner visually that they crave and appreciate attention, made me think about how my mother used to get ready for my dad's arrival home from work when I was a child. I grew up in the 1950s, and my mom, like many women of the post-WWII boom, was a stay-at-home wife. But I can clearly remember her stopping her chores every day about a half-hour before she expected my dad home to primp a bit. She'd change her skirt, comb her hair, and put on lipstick all to greet my father when he came home. That stuck with me, and now I find myself doing the same type of thing when I've been home all day especially if I've stayed home because I didn't feel well. Unless I'm bedridden, I make sure I've cleaned up, combed my hair and put on a little blush and mascara before my "men" (my husband and seven-year-old son) come home for the evening. Silly maybe, but it makes me feel like I'm keeping up my end of the relationship when I do it. And I'm just following an example that worked mom and dad shared nearly 55 years of love. If a little "presentation" ups the odds for my husband and I, I'll keep holding my end up. Debbie Gardner PRIME Editor dgardner@reminder.com