The Rose Game

     When I took Mark a plastic urinal the other day, I gave it to him with a red, silk rose. 
He laughed.  We have a long history of surprising each other with a red, silk rose as a way to say, "I'm thinking of you, I love you."  

      Usually, the gesture is simple, we hide it on the pillow, on the computer, on the steering wheel, in the shower, etc.  Over the years there have been some more creative moves.  We shared our tradition with our friends and now when we go on couples dates, you can assume there will be a surprise somewhere!  We had a waiter put red, silk roses on the dessert plates prior to bringing them to our table.  We decorated a Christmas tree with ornaments using red, silk roses before we sat down to dinner beside it (the guys didn't notice even when we commented about the tree).  There were surprises while we snorkeled in the Caribbean, and while playing water volleyball at Downatta.  We like to have fun with it.

     Today there is a red, silk rose above Mark's hospital bed so that when he sees it, he knows that I'm thinking of him, and that I love him.  He is resting a lot, and even typing up psychological evaluations when he can.  He is pretty amazing.