Holidays Without your LEO
Holidays today with my husband were minimal for the first 5 years or so of our marriage. When he first began law enforcement, he started out at the very bottom of the seniority list. In saying this, my husband’s schedule straight out sucked. To demonstrate this fully, my husband and I did not even take our honeymoon until year 3 of our marriage. Our schedules simply did not align until that far into our marriage.
Sacrifice
Typically, the job of first responders is one of the professions where holidays do not count in terms of schedule structure. If you work on a Wednesday and that is the day Christmas lands, well, you work it. We have had times when we have adjusted the time or even day of our holiday celebrations. There have been many times when my LEO’s schedule was so far away from normalcy that I had to make a holiday just for him. Yes…I’ve cooked two Thanksgiving dinners, on many occasions.
Double Duty Holiday Meals
Why would I do this you ask? Well for me, I know how special it makes my husband feel when I cook such a large meal just for him. It allows him to taste the holiday despite not being there with us physically. I make it a celebration of the holiday but also a celebration of him for his sacrifices. In addition, I have so many leftovers that I don’t have to worry about cooking for a week! Think of it like meal prep, only it’s a week when carbs, fat, and calorie count doesn’t matter!
Add to Holiday Traditions
I understand how hard it is to share the special moments of a major holiday and birthdays without your LEO. When you find that their schedule simply doesn’t allow for your LEO to join in the celebrations, be creative. This can be fun and your LEO will appreciate your extra effort, truly. Now, I’m not saying you have to go all in and duplicate your already colossal cooking plans each holiday. You can downsize it. Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Take that old shade of lipstick that you don’t use anymore and bring out the artistic girl in you. Go to the mirror where your LEO gets ready each morning and color! Write something sweet, draw a heart, and top it off with a kiss. This small gesture may be out of the norm for you, but he’ll appreciate it.
Warning: My husband decided to reciprocate this gesture once. He went into my lipsticks, pulled out a $38 YSL lipstick, and destroyed it.
- Write a love note small enough to stick behind his credit/debit card. He’ll see this when he goes to make his first purchase of the day and be reminded of you.
- A sexy surprise underneath…I went on Amazon recently and found a very inexpensive, very discreet, and very sexy babydoll outfit. Guess how much? $12! It’s great quality for the price but even more so, my LEO wasn’t expecting this at all and loved it.
- Buy or make your own seasonal scented car air freshener and discreetly place it in his vehicle. You can write a note and even have your kids write on it too. He’ll wonder what the awesome (maybe perhaps feminine) smell is and smile when he finds it.
- Try to hijack his phone, just for a minute. You can record a voice memo in his phone that tells him how much you and the family miss him. When he is at work, tell him to go to his memos because there’s a secret message waiting for him there.
- Record a video! If you and your family are missing your LEO during a holiday event, record a video of the event. Ask everyone to gather around just as you would for a family photo. Instead of just snapping a shot, have everyone voice how much they love your LEO. Your LEO will feel loved and missed, no doubt.
As we celebrate Thanksgiving this year, I feel so much gratitude that my LEO is home with me today. Even more so, I think of all of the other LEOs and first responders that are out on the streets. From my home to yours, I am wishing you all a safe and happy holiday together. Always know that even when you find yourself alone on a special day, you are beautiful, you are strong, and you are LEO Warriors.
