LESSON OF THE ROSES

February 25, 1988

One Valentine’s Day, many years ago I ordered my then wife a vase of red roses and had them delivered to the office where she worked. I was quite sure she would be pleased. Yet when I got home that evening I was surprised, she seemed sad. I ask her if she had gotten my gift. She said yes, they were beautiful, but I could tell she was sad about what I

thought would have been a great gift. I ask a friend who I knew was smarter than me about these things and his reply changed forever the way I give gifts.
He said to me, “I know they were nice roses and I know they were expensive. But think about her sitting in the office and think about what she was looking at around her”. I ask what that

would have been. He said “one desk after another with a vase of red roses on
it”. There was no meaning to my gift, no thought, no uniqueness and this is the way it made her think I felt about her.

Don’t make my mistake when you give a gift that is intended to mark one of life’s major milestones.

Besco Custom JewelersLesson of the roses