A Rose by Any Other Type

Ronald came home from work early one day with 3 dozen roses, a box of candy shaped like a heart, and a small box from a jewelry store. Betty smiled and said, “I haven’t seen you come home early in a long time.”

“I just wanted to let you know how much I love you. I know that I have not been giving you my full attention. I never meant to make you feel unloved. I’ve been working a lot to pay the bills. But I swear that from this point on, I’ll work just as hard on keeping us together.”

When they first got married, Ronald would surprise Betty often with small gifts. He would come home in the middle of the day just to spend time with her. When He was not able to do that, he would call or text her. Even if was just to say “Hello!” They didn’t have much at the time. It was enough to get by. But little by little, he started making more and more money and all of these little things came less and less and recently it stopped. Little by little, they seemed to draw further away from each other. He didn’t mean to neglect her, that’s just the way things happened. As the cost of everyday living went up, he started spending more and more time at work. He stopped coming home in the middle of the day. He slowly stopped calling and texting. She saw less and less of her dear husband. And now that the children are grown and the last one recently left the nest, she has been feeling lonely. They had become more roommates than husband and wife. But he was trying his best to make amends for this.

He walked up to her and pulled out a small box. From the box he pulled out a diamond necklace and put it around her neck. Betty’s smile grew as she admired the sparkle that came from her neck. He handed her the chocolates. Godiva. The good stuff. This wasn’t the box of Godiva Chocolates that you would find at your local Walgreens. It was not assorted. It was tailored. It was only the pieces she liked. This came from a specialty store. Pre-ordered. Very expensive.

“Wow! You really went all out on this one.” As she bit into one of the candies, her eyes automatically closed. Her knees became weak a little. “This is really good. Maybe I should get mad at you more often.”

He next pulled out the flowers. Her smile grew even more. She could smell the beautiful scent of the flowers as she grabbed them from him.

“You sure do know how to say, ‘I’m sorry’.”

“I just wanted you to know how much I love you.”

As she examined the flowers, her smile started to drop.

“Did you know that most of these flowers are fake?” She said, “You compare your love for me with fake flowers! What are you saying? That most of your love is fake?”

“Sweetheart”, he replied, “I came to you with many gifts. The beautiful diamonds that you currently wear around your neck today, will no doubt be placed in a box tomorrow. You’ll pull it out and look at it once in a while. On special occasions, you may even put it on. But as far as everyday life goes, you won’t even look at it. For the most part, you’ll forget that it’s there.

“That box of exquisite chocolates, full of the ones you enjoy so much, will soon be all gone. The box will be thrown in the garbage. The chocolates themselves will pass through your body and be flushed down the toilet.

“One third of the flowers you were given were grown in the garden of the best growers in town. You can put them in a vase, add water, and add plant food. This will keep them red and standing straight for a few days. However, the truth is that they died the moment they were cut from the bush. They are slowly drying out and will some be tossed out, thrown in the garbage with the empty box of chocolates.

“My love for you is far greater than flowers that look beautiful today but tomorrow is thrown in the garbage. My love will last longer than anything that tastes good now but no longer exists later today. My love is stronger than I diamond that is displayed today and then placed in a box and rarely ever seen again. Are those things the way you see love.

“The other 2 dozen flowers that I gave you are not fake. They are made of materials that will last longer than we will. Longer after we are dead, these will still be just as red as you see them today. My dear, these express my love for you. Something that will outlive even me. Even if I die, my love for you will continue.”

With that, Ronald walked over to his wife, gently touched her face, and ever so softly, he kissed her.