sticks and weeds and something green

when my 97 year old sweet and precious grandmother left her home of 59 years to live with my aunt in NC, my sister-in-law michele dug up (actually she said scott did the work) mamaw's rose bushes. apparently these roses came from my great-grandfather's home, lived in mamaw's yard forever, and now have moved to my house and my brother scott's. what we put in the ground looked like sticks we picked up out in the woods somewhere, barely any root hanging from them. we have watered and fed, watered and fed. last night after a firepit evening with friends, i noticed that 2 of the three twiggy things that had been there were no longer. i know that roses are just flowers, but sentimental goof that i am, those twiggy things were more than dead looking wood to me. they are a connection to my grandmother that i love dearly and who is now far away from me. ok, so there was one twig left, and something next to it i thought was a weed. kathy looks at it and says "that's a rose bush right there." greg says "that's what i thought it was." i'm still thinking, "looks like a weed to me." luke and i got online today to find pictures of just-starting-to-grow rose bushes and their leaves looked like my weed. i REALLY want this to be a rose bush. jan ellis, my garden girl, give me your opinion. and anyone else, for that matter - i know not one thing about roses.