Four years ago I did funeral flowers for an elderly lady who lived in my neighborhood. I'd never met her or her family. Two weeks later her husband aged about 80 came into my shop to thank me for the lovely flowers. A very thoughtful gesture to be sure. He told me his wife had been a florist and he had been the delivery man and that is how they met. He told me that he promised her that he would always have fresh flowers on her grave, and he was true to his word , coming in every week to pick up fresh ones. We began to chat and I learned that they had no children and no close relitives. We became friends and I used to invite Sandy to my home for holiday dinners- he rarely accepted but seemed grateful and often just stopped by the shop for a chat. 6 months ago he fell and was in a nursing home nearby. I visited occasionally and tried to keep in touch.
Today I came in and got a call for funeral flowers, answering the questions and filling in the information before asking for the deceased name. It was my friend Sandy. The caller in New York told me that these were probably the only flowers he would recieve. I was pretty choked up by this time. Then called the funeral home for delivery details and told them that we would send something too.
An hour later the funeral home called. My friend had done pre-need arrangements and had a very generous amount aloted for flowers. He told the funeral home that he wanted them to use my shop rather than their regular florist. He wanted me to do his final tribute -no expense spared. I would have done it anyway for free. It would have been a privilege.
This last year has been very difficult business wise. I have come to dislike so much of this business and feel like it is time for me to do something else. Today was a sad day, but this is what it's all about. The emotional connection , the reaching across generations, and taking care of people even into the next life it's what I love best about this industry.
Today I came in and got a call for funeral flowers, answering the questions and filling in the information before asking for the deceased name. It was my friend Sandy. The caller in New York told me that these were probably the only flowers he would recieve. I was pretty choked up by this time. Then called the funeral home for delivery details and told them that we would send something too.
An hour later the funeral home called. My friend had done pre-need arrangements and had a very generous amount aloted for flowers. He told the funeral home that he wanted them to use my shop rather than their regular florist. He wanted me to do his final tribute -no expense spared. I would have done it anyway for free. It would have been a privilege.
This last year has been very difficult business wise. I have come to dislike so much of this business and feel like it is time for me to do something else. Today was a sad day, but this is what it's all about. The emotional connection , the reaching across generations, and taking care of people even into the next life it's what I love best about this industry.
