Bobby's Story …

Could this be true? No one else would give him a thing for his dime!  Sensing the boy's reluctance, the shop owner added, "I just happened to
have some roses on sale for ten cents a dozen. Would you  like them?"  This time Bobby did not hesitate, and when the man placed the long  box into his hands, he knew it was true.  Walking out the door that the owner was holding for Bobby, he heard the shop keeper say, "Merry Christmas, son."
 
As he returned inside, the shop keepers wife walked out. "Who were  you talking to back there and where are the roses you were fixing?" Staring  out the window, and blinking the tears from his own eyes, he replied,  "A  strange thing happened to me this morning. While I was setting up things  to open the shop, I thought I heard a voice telling me to set aside a
dozen of my best roses  for a special gift.  I wasn't sure at the time  whether I had lost my mind or what,  but I set them aside anyway.  Then  just a few minutes ago a little boy came into the shop and wanted to  buy  a flower for his mother with one small dime.  When I looked at him, I saw myself, many years ago. I too was a poor boy  with nothing to buy my mother a Christmas gift. A bearded man, whom I  never knew, stopped me on the street and told me that  he wanted to give  me ten dollars. When I saw that little boy tonight,  I knew who that voice  was, and I put together a dozen of my very best roses."
 
The shop owner and his wife hugged each other tightly, and as they stepped  out into the bitter cold air, they somehow didn't feel cold at all.