A Special Valentine's Day

February 2007: I had been in Blacksburg with Mom and Dad, Jean and Bill Absher, for several days.  Dad was already confined mostly to his recliner and his movement restricted by Parkinson Disease.  Mother was confined as well since she gave up on driving after one lesson from Dad and an encounter with a fence in a pasture field.  That driving lesson preceded the 2007 Valentine's Day by more than 65 years- so the folks had lived through a lot in 68 years of marriage.
But Dad was aware of the day!  I was saying my good byes and he beckoned me to come closer.  He pointed to a  bouquet of roses in the Roanoke Times and whispered, " How about going and getting some for Jean."  My urgency to get back to my Valentine in Kentucky suddenly disappeared.  I hurriedly went to Krogers concerned that the roses would be sold out.  They weren't and I felt like I had discovered a gold mine, and maybe I had.   The love that was pure gold shone brightly that morning as Dad presented a dozen roses to his bride of almost 6 dozen years!

That is a Valentine's Day I'll never forget.