A lovely story and I agree, what a lovely heirloom it would be for your children to have. We had a wild rose bush (yellow with a wonderful scent) in the yard when I was growing up. I too wanted to get close...and got a few scratches, but oh how I loved to put my nose in the center of those petals!
The bush was removed years later, and what I would do now for a sprig of that bush now!
