Roses are my favorite flowers

Not because they are beautiful and expensive but because they don't try to kill me.

Photos from Rose Gardens of Farmers Branch Texas by giftsbygenius

Everyday, I take a cocktail of drugs designed to maintain my ability to breathe. All together, they cost about $20 a day. That's right, every single day that I want to continue breathing. Go ahead and multiple that cost out over the course of a year. I'll wait...

Now I'm not saying that I would necessarily die if I didn't take them, but they greatly improve my quality of life as without them my respiratory passages swell almost completely shut. It's the almost that is the difference between life and death. So what is wrong with me? Since living in Houston, I am allergic to everything under the sun. Like paper... Have you ever met someone allergic to paper? Stable levels of antihistamine and steroids are critical to my continued happiness.

But there are some things that even all my prescriptions can't fight. These include: pine trees, sunflowers, daisies, sawdust, shellfish, cats, and fungus.  At some point, one of these is probably going to put me in the hospital.  Did you know that some gelatins contain fish bones? Yeah, I learned that one the hard way...  So things that most people don't think about worry me. Like what exactly did you put in that dish that you brought to the office potluck?

So feel free to send me flowers, but make sure they are roses. And go easy on the baby's breath...