DEAR ABBY: Before my husband and I were married, he showered me with gifts large and small. After we married, it became my duty to send the cards and buy the gifts for family and friends.
My birthday, Mother's Day and Christmas would go by with no gift or card. I would suffer in silence, getting more and more depressed as the time went by.
Finally, after several years of this, I decided not to allow my feelings to be hurt any longer. Two weeks before the big day, I would remind him, "My birthday is in a couple of weeks, and I'd really like that dress we saw or those beautiful earrings. Why don't we go out for dinner at (blank)?"
It worked! I was happy and he was beaming with all the praise. After 37 years, he hasn't caught on yet. -- MRS. D. IN FLORIDA
DEAR MRS. D.: That's an excellent, nonconfrontational solution to a very common problem. Thanks for sharing it.