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The Best Roses Ever by Donna Cox It was 1998 and we were living in a 32 ft travel trailer! Yes, you read that right, a TRAVEL TRAILER! My husband and I had been married for 13 years and we had four children, with two of them still living at home (the older two were mine from a previous marriage). We had moved to Wheeling, West Virginia so that my husband could further his career. We had a beautiful home in our home state of Tennessee that we had not been able to sell, so in order to keep our family together, I had the bright idea to haul our camper to West Virginia and live in it until our house sold. Mind you, this was in the fall and winter was fast approaching. Our daughters were taking it all in stride and looked at it as an adventure. The first few months were tolerable, but then winter did set in, and I was stuck day after day inside with a very hyperactive three year old, who would wake up with the slightest movement. Needless to say, I was at my wits end with our situation, but we were broke, (keeping up two households and paying college tuition for the oldest two) and Valentines Day was fast approaching. There was no money in the budget for any kind of special gift for my husband, but he assured me many times that he knew how much I loved him. In previous years we had surprised one another with things like a weekend away from the kids, candlelight dinners at our favorite resteraunt , or couple massages. I felt bad that none of that was going to happen this year. I fully expected nothing from my husband, and I was sad. Then, to my surprise he came walking in the camper with a wrapped present. "How did you pay for something? We are so broke!" He just smiled gently and said "open it", "but I didn't get you anything!", again he said "it's okay, just open it". So, still a little nervous that he had spent our grocery money, I opened the neatly wrapped box and inside I found a dozen roses cut from construction paper. Each one had a special message that only meant something to me. As I read each one the tears were streaming down my face, all the years and wonderful presents, and none of them were as special as these roses were. We have been married almost 24 years now, and we have since adopted twin boys, so our finances still get a little tight now and then, but I know that no matter what comes our way, my wonderful husband loves me, and that's worth more than all the gold in China!