This was shared with me and I thought it should be passed on again. This was the last paragraph in an obituary that ran March 3, 2013. (and as a note, I'd love for it to be run in my obit someday.) After listing her many lifetime accomplishments, organizations, hobbies and family members, the last paragraph read as such:
In lieu of charitable donations, the family requests that anyone wishing to, may honor the tradition of sending flowers, as she would have loved to be surrounded by them on last time. As an alternative, you may also honor her memory by patronizing a local small business of your choice.
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Thursday, April 25, 2013
What's in a flower???
What's in a flower???
Contemplate it. What truly is the meaning of a flower? As a florist, and working with them everyday, they are an earth's offereing, the Lord's gift to Mother Nature, promising a beautiful but fragile moment in time.
So stately, so fleeting....much like life itself. A simple celebration of all the right circumstances coming together to create perfection. A sweet perfection enjoyed by all who experience it.
Recently, I had a good customer order flowers for one of our sweet older customers whom we deliver to every holiday and on her birthday as well. She's the dearest lady and is always excited to see us. She can't make it to her door easily so we generally call her and let her know we are coming. Upon reaching her doorstep, we knock and turn the knob, calling to her to let her know that we are entering her little apartment, and bringing her her flowers directly to her in her recliner. She's always so very excited about getting flowers and we generally read her the card as well. We adore her as she reminds all of us of our grandmothers.
Unfortunately, she's under the weather and had to be hospitalized and that's why her friend was ordering flowers for her. I decided to deliver the flowers to her myself, as I usually do, but this time taking them 40 miles away to her in the hospital. After closing the shop, I headed to the hospital to bring her the flowers, a lovely spring mix of bright and cheery blooms that would hopefully make her day and boost her spirits.
When I walked into her hospital room with her flowers, her roomate was envious and my sweet flower recipient was so excited that she teared up and exclaimed..."I am soo blessed. So very, very blessed."
It was I that was blessed. As the simple florist, I was able to see the joy that someone's thoughtfulness brought to someone else through the simple delicateness of flowers.
Contemplate it. What truly is the meaning of a flower? As a florist, and working with them everyday, they are an earth's offereing, the Lord's gift to Mother Nature, promising a beautiful but fragile moment in time.
So stately, so fleeting....much like life itself. A simple celebration of all the right circumstances coming together to create perfection. A sweet perfection enjoyed by all who experience it.
Recently, I had a good customer order flowers for one of our sweet older customers whom we deliver to every holiday and on her birthday as well. She's the dearest lady and is always excited to see us. She can't make it to her door easily so we generally call her and let her know we are coming. Upon reaching her doorstep, we knock and turn the knob, calling to her to let her know that we are entering her little apartment, and bringing her her flowers directly to her in her recliner. She's always so very excited about getting flowers and we generally read her the card as well. We adore her as she reminds all of us of our grandmothers.
Unfortunately, she's under the weather and had to be hospitalized and that's why her friend was ordering flowers for her. I decided to deliver the flowers to her myself, as I usually do, but this time taking them 40 miles away to her in the hospital. After closing the shop, I headed to the hospital to bring her the flowers, a lovely spring mix of bright and cheery blooms that would hopefully make her day and boost her spirits.
When I walked into her hospital room with her flowers, her roomate was envious and my sweet flower recipient was so excited that she teared up and exclaimed..."I am soo blessed. So very, very blessed."
It was I that was blessed. As the simple florist, I was able to see the joy that someone's thoughtfulness brought to someone else through the simple delicateness of flowers.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
The changing floral industry!
Sometimes change is good but when the change is at the public's expense, I have to comment on it. My last blog was all about order grabbers but a post on a florist website and the grumblings of many of my colleagues have encouraged me to put it into dollars and sense, perhaps...common sense!
Let's run the numbers shall we??? If you placed a $50.00 floral order with an order grabber, (There are plenty of them out there. If they're address isn't in the zip code that you are sending to, they are an order grabber who is using current technology to send the order to a florist in that zip code.) you paid on average, $14.99 for their service fee which sometimes is disguised as a delivery fee.
When that order is sent to the receiving shop, that shop is going to be reimbursed $35.50 for that order and charged $2.25 by the order grabber as a transaction fee, leaving the florist $33.50 to fill your order.
It now becomes clear as to why when you order on a "grabbers" website and not an actual florist's, why the received arrangement doesn't look as full as the showcased picture.
There is no way for the small town florist to "beat" these order grabbers, they are making huge profits doing business this way and can afford prime time television ads and internet pop up adds. They also snag a lot of customers by promising $10.00 off, or a percentage off of your order. This generally is added back in somewhere or, is still more expensive than calling that local florist or ordering on their website.
All of this order grabbing irritates me to no end. I hate to see the loved ones of the residents of my small town "fleeced" of their hard earned money.
The good news is....if you are reading this, you are already floral savy because you are on my website. You are MY customer, not the order grabber's customer and 100% of your spending money goes into your arrangement. (Not to mention, I work VERY hard for my customers!!! and perhaps, yes, I will admit it, my customer's orders take precedence to those of the order grabbers.) So ...Kudos to you!!!
That's all for today, my rant is done and I'm on to enjoy working with some beautiful spring iris, hydrangeas and gorgeous "circus" roses!!!
Sometimes change is good but when the change is at the public's expense, I have to comment on it. My last blog was all about order grabbers but a post on a florist website and the grumblings of many of my colleagues have encouraged me to put it into dollars and sense, perhaps...common sense!
Let's run the numbers shall we??? If you placed a $50.00 floral order with an order grabber, (There are plenty of them out there. If they're address isn't in the zip code that you are sending to, they are an order grabber who is using current technology to send the order to a florist in that zip code.) you paid on average, $14.99 for their service fee which sometimes is disguised as a delivery fee.
When that order is sent to the receiving shop, that shop is going to be reimbursed $35.50 for that order and charged $2.25 by the order grabber as a transaction fee, leaving the florist $33.50 to fill your order.
It now becomes clear as to why when you order on a "grabbers" website and not an actual florist's, why the received arrangement doesn't look as full as the showcased picture.
There is no way for the small town florist to "beat" these order grabbers, they are making huge profits doing business this way and can afford prime time television ads and internet pop up adds. They also snag a lot of customers by promising $10.00 off, or a percentage off of your order. This generally is added back in somewhere or, is still more expensive than calling that local florist or ordering on their website.
All of this order grabbing irritates me to no end. I hate to see the loved ones of the residents of my small town "fleeced" of their hard earned money.
The good news is....if you are reading this, you are already floral savy because you are on my website. You are MY customer, not the order grabber's customer and 100% of your spending money goes into your arrangement. (Not to mention, I work VERY hard for my customers!!! and perhaps, yes, I will admit it, my customer's orders take precedence to those of the order grabbers.) So ...Kudos to you!!!
That's all for today, my rant is done and I'm on to enjoy working with some beautiful spring iris, hydrangeas and gorgeous "circus" roses!!!
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