Flowers from the front: Minden woman receives unexpected gift

A week ago, Air Force Reserve Capt. Shean Galvin appeared on "Good Morning America" after he accompanied rescued POW Jessica Lynch to a hospital in Germany.

Galvin, a Minden resident, is a nurse at Washoe Medical Center.

Monday, he paused from his work in Iraq to call a Gardnerville florist and order flowers for his wife, Shannon.

"He said, 'Please don't hang up, don't hang up. I'm calling from Iraq,'" said Lori Britton, owner of The Wildflower Florist, about the call she received at about 11 a.m. Monday.

With delays in the conversation due to distance, Capt. Galvin asked what day it was here and the time before ordering a dozen yellow roses to deliver to his wife's office that day.

Britton delivered the flowers personally to Shannon Galvin at BMC West.

"I was so surprised," Galvin said Tuesday morning. "At first, when (Britton) walked in, I said, 'You must have a mistake.'"

Under normal circumstances, it's not unusual for Capt. Galvin to send flowers.

"He's very thoughtful," Shannon Galvin said. "He's a regular customer at Wildflower and sends flowers quite often.

"I didn't think I'd be getting anything for a while."

The last time Galvin talked to her husband was right after he transported Lynch, whose rescue from a hospital in Iraq captured international attention.

"He said, 'Hey, I might be on the news,'" Galvin said.

She recorded the interview he did for "Good Morning America."

"My 2-year-old rewinds it and watches it about 200 times a day," Galvin said.

The Galvins' daughters are Sydney, 2; Savannah, 9; and Kimberly, 12. His mother, Mickie Schultz, lives in Palm Springs.

"We hope he returns safe," Galvin said. "We miss him a lot. We're proud of him."

For Britton, the experience brought the war close to home.

"I could hear all these men in the background, radio traffic," she said of her conversation with Capt. Galvin. "He said he was proud of her for holding up so well, and that he loved her and missed her.

"You hear about the war on television from someone on the other side of the world. The reality is so much closer now."