Valentine's Day Memories

Every year on Valentines Day, I would wake up to find a rose and a balloon in my bedroom from my father. My brothers and sister would wake to find the same, and then my sister and I would run to look at all the roses that he had gotten my mother. The roses would be different every year, barely ever being the standard 12 red that everyone gets. I love seeing those roses and can not wait to hear about them when I call my mom on Valentine's Day tomorrow. Yes, my dad still does it. And even now that I'm all grown up, when tomorrow dawns (Valentine's Day), I will miss not having a rose and balloon from my dad.
My dad wasn't always so smooth on V-day. Oh no! His first Valentine's Day with my mom he showed up with a heart shaped box of cheap chocolate, you know the kind you find everywhere on Valentine's Day (not that they can't be fun sometimes, and I like them). Mom is a chocolatier, a chocolate snob. Mom ended up writing what came to be known as "The Chocolate Bible" and she made one travel sized to go in my dad's wallet. After that, he gave a lot more thought to his Valentine's gifts and went with his new knowledge about finer chocolate and my mom's favorite flower, the rose.
When I came along, I was my daddy's little Valentine. I got a single rose (the first one was just like my mommy's) and a balloon. I received the same up until I moved out and I got to see my mom's dozen beautiful roses.
Good memories.
Valentine's Day changed a lot as I grew up. I've had bunches of heart shaped boxes full of chocolate, flowers, and boys a-plenty (usually odd-balls) vying to be my Valentine. But every year my single rose and balloon would be the first thing I'd see. From my first ever Valentine; my dad.