Who Was Melvin Muffknuckles?

Happy Valentines Day!  Yes, another Valentines Day is here and I am wondering how it is going to turn out for me.  Is it a very big day for you?  It never seemed very big to me, but then I start remembering some of those days and they make me laugh, feel very nostalgic, or bring back some very fond memories.  So far today I planned a nice kind of fancy meal for Carla, Jim and I and even bought a "dozen" roses that I have chosen to believe Melvin Muffknuckles sent to me.  Now you KNOW a story has to be coming next, right?  First of all I had to put dozen in quotes because there were only 9 long stemmed roses, 2 stems and one blossom that had fallen off a stem.  I got them from a bin in Walmart marked $4.67, a real bargain! When I checked out at a self check out station they rang up at over $15.00!  Being self check out I messed around a bit and finally decided Melvin still would have bought them for me, so I got them anyway.

My roses from Melvin Muffknuckles

The rest of this story has to have a spoiler warning for some of my own children--it will probably be a tear-jerker......

So who is Melvin Muffknuckles?  That has been a question never exactly answered.  Here is how it goes.  Back in the day when I was teaching Home Economics at North Park High School in Walden, Colorado, my students had to raise money to travel to FCCLA conferences and competitions.  At this school we did it on Valentines Day by selling roses.  The first year we sold fresh ones that someone had to go pick up in Laramie (60 miles away over a snow covered pass).  We took orders for about a week and then ordered them from a florist in Laramie and of course once we started delivering them more people wanted to order some so a parent had to make a quick trip back down there to get some more.  It was very successful but stressful as well.  Anyway, 3 of my 4 children were still in Jr. or Sr. High School at the time and some were involved in the fund raiser.  Toward the end of the day a delivery was made to me of some roses from Melvin Muffknuckles.  My students and my own kids all claimed they didn't know who it was.

The next year we all learned how to make silk roses and I got supplies from a warehouse in Denver and they turned out just beautiful!  It was very successful and way less stressful although we all had to work hard to get so many made.  I again received roses from Melvin Muffknuckles!  Still no one fessed up to knowing anything about it.  We continued making silk roses for Valentines Day for many years and I kept receiving them and no one ever did confess.  Over the years I received other gifts from Melvin and I always suspected it was my husband, Bob Manville, who sent them.  Today I decided these roses should be from him too. They are beautiful!

Have a great Valentines Day!