A Love That Never Fades

I found an orange rose outside my door
On the morning of my sixteenth birthday.
A multitude of questions had me floored.
With many emotions, my heart did sway.

The next day, too, I was greeted by a rose.
A bloom that brought a smile on my face.
Was it from a secret admirer or a beau?
Who kept it? There was not a single trace.

All through school and college, I did grow.
And every morning, my door it graced.
I smiled, laughed, shared, and loved more
Like the dew-laden bud left at my place.

That age passed like a river that flowed,
And I always looked forward to each day.
Overcoming pitfalls that life could throw,
The rose made me more than I could say.

Then, one day, perchance I came to know
My mother kept the rose there every day –
She wanted to make me feel so adored
With a love that would never fade away.