Rosina has been my friend for forty-five years, and yet we have never met. She lives in Canada, I live in England, and the Atlantic seems destined to divide us. Rosina's mother and my mother's eldest sister had been penfriends for many years - in fact, Rosina was named after my aunt - so it seemed natural that we too should become penfriends as soon as we were old enough. As children, we exchanged regular letters, cards and photographs and grew to know each other, and each other's families almost as well as our own. We both eventually married and invited each other to our weddings - although we were unable to attend - and rejoiced together as each of our children was born. Both Rosina and I have been blessed with stable marriages and lovely families, and we continued to exchange news as the years went by. Inevitably, as home, family and careers occupied more and more of our time, the letters dwindled to an annual Christmas exchange until we discovered the Internet........ This is my tribute to my friend Rosina......... Rosina means "little rose" so I made this background set especially for you. In the Victorian era young ladies and gentlemen used a "language of flowers" and every flower had its meaning : the rose meant "love" - a red rose meant "I love you" and a full-blown rose (like the ones on this page) meant "You are beautiful." A little rose, or rosebud, was a special confession of love. Only the yellow rose was out of favour - it meant "jealousy" and "infidelity!" Rosina's birth sign is the same as mine - Aries. The "traditional" Aries traits are adventurous and energetic, pioneering and courageous, enthusiastic and confident, and dynamic and quick-witted, with the less positive traits of quick-tempered, impulsive and impatient, foolhardy and a daredevil as an inevitable accompaniment! Our birthstone is the diamond (naturally - only the best will do!) which the ancients believed would "enhance the wearer with charm and beauty" and, when worn on the left hand or arm, would give the wearer "bravery and daring." The favoured colour for Aries is red, possibly because of the connection with Aries' ruling planet, Mars ..... which brings us back full circle to the red rose again! You share your birthday with Lucretia Borgia the notorious mediaeval poisoner, the actor Rick Moranis and the conductor Leopold Stokowski (who, despite his name, was born and died in England) and you were born on exactly the same day as Hayley Mills ; Will Hay, Benny Hill and, on a slightly higher plane, Albert Einstein all died on your birthday. A little something I made just for you, Rosina. I hope you like it. "Make new friends but keep the old; The one is silver, the other gold." ~Anonymous "True friends are like diamonds, precious and rare False friends are like leaves, found everywhere." ~ Anonymous