And One From Dad...

Back in the day my parents had a small business that sold and serviced among other things Singer sewing machines. Yes, that's how I came into the world of all things needle and thread! The shop backed up to the local florist, and there was a connection between the two spaces separated only by a curtain. Oh the good ole days...when you could trust your neighbor and before the building codes got so strict, not to mention the insurance companies. When I was little I would slip into the back room of the florist where they would let me see the flowers in the walk-in cooler and best of all they would let me play with the pipe cleaners - oh the colors and the bendy fuzzyness! It was a magical place to me.

One really nice thing about being back-door neighbors with the florist is that Eddie, the owner, never let Dad forget an important occasion. Every birthday and every Valentine's Day Dad came home with a bud vase holding a single red rose with baby's breath for me. Every year.

After I moved away and got married Dad would call Jimmy and ask him to get that for me. It took several years to convince my husband that what I really want for special occasions is not a dozen roses but one. Just one.

Dad left this world in 2005, but still to this day my husband gets me a rose from him. And the tradition has taken on a new twist over the years since our boys came along...I get one from each of my special guys. :)

No, I'll never be a "dozen girl". One will do just fine...from each of them. And one from Dad.

Happy Valentine's Day!