Okay, do you remember the first time you ever received flowers?
Mine? First year of college. As a significantly sheltered homeschooled kid, I had nary a boyfriend situation to draw from and was suddenly immersed in a social setting that expanded outside my church circle. I was taking a reproductive biology class and sat next to an interesting man who informed me that he owned a funeral home. Somehow he found my address. On Valentine’s Day, my mom knocked on my bedroom door and, confused, told me flowers had arrived with my name on them. They were from the guy with the funeral home, and they came with a card that made me cry, not because it touched me, but because somehow he misread me offering him a pen as something more, and I was embarrassed by the whole thing and didn’t know how to handle it.
I’ve learned since that there is only one way to handle getting flowers–get a gosh darn vase, fill it with water…and enjoy them.
I try and always have at least one jar of fresh flowers in my house at all times–usually a bundle on my kitchen island, sometimes picked from our gardenia bush, sometimes brought home from the store–because they majorly up the cheer factor in our home. And this Mother’s Day, if you’re looking for a way to let someone know you love them–here’s a hint: Go with cheer. You can never ever go wrong with flowers.
It goes like this:
Person You Love is minding her own business in her house–maybe sipping coffee, watching the morning news in her pajamas; maybe hustling around the house wishing life wasn’t so crazy.
Knock, knock. Someone’s at the door.
“Who could it be?” Person You Love is thinking. “Not expecting any packages, that’s weird.” Person You Love goes to the door to investigate, peeks out, and there–on the step–is a long narrow box. Person You Love smiles. Picks up the box. Takes it to the kitchen, pulls a butter knife out and slides it against the edge of the box, through the tape, one step closer to what’s inside.
She lifts the freed cardboard flaps…slowly…pulls the brown paper inside back just enough to see a bit of color…the first hints of happiness.
A card falls out. It’s from you: “You make me so happy. Thank you for making me feel loved–both when I’m with you and when I’m away from you. I love you. Happy Mother’s Day.”
Person You Love wipes a hot tear from her cheek and pulls back the rest of the paper. Vibrant blooms, cheery succulents, long green stems tucked neatly in the mix, a whole palette of colors and life that breathe a little bit of the love you sent. She feels it. It’s alive.
She pulls a vase from a cabinet, fills it with water, takes her time clipping stems, tucking them in, rearranging them carefully until everything’s perfect.
She displays them somewhere special. Somewhere she’ll see them as often as possible. And every time she does, she hears your words: “You make me happy. I love you. Happy Mother’s Day.”
What would a world without flowers be?
So here’s the deal. Our friends at The Bouqs Company have a little offer for our readers this Mother’s Day. You receive 20% off your order when you use code MDAY20 (offer expires in one week).
Who are The Bouqs Company? The Bouqs Company is a new flower delivery service that’s easy, fresh, and beautiful. Flowers are cut the day you order and shipped the next day, so you’ll receive them sooner and they’ll last longer. They ship directly from sustainable, eco-friendly farms to your door – no waiting in warehouses until they’re ordered.
My favorites? The Showstopper (top photos), a flower/succulent mix; the Pegasus, a vibrant Peony bundle, and this Tropical Love bouquet that fit perfectly in our Florida home and still, two weeks later, looks like the day it came.
Claude Monet was right…”I must have flowers. Always and always.”
I always have fresh flowers in several areas in my home. But…. I think Bouqs are a bit too pricey for me.
I love this! My mom is supposed to be in Nebraska this Mother’s Day, so I will just have to sendnher flowers there. Thanks for the idea.
Oh! Yes. This is a perfect post. Flowers are the bees knees. I have been buying my mom flowers to put in her garden since the first warmish day of February. She kept telling me to stop because they would die before it was warm, but they have survived. I will definitely get her some for mother’s day.
So pretty! I love flowers in the home. They always cheer me up and help keep the mood in the house peaceful and warm.
I love going into my cabinet and retrieving my Nana’s old chipped vase that I cannot throw out, or my girl friend’s bridal shower gift that she really didn’t have the money to buy me…the flowers I receive in these vases give me double the pleasure.
I love this.
Beautiful! Thanks for the code. Just an FYI, the links to bouquets you mention don’t appear to be working…but it could just be my computer because it’s cranky like that.
I remember the first time that I ever had flowers delivered to me. I was in the 6th grade and the night before, we’d had our school’s spring concert. After the concert, parents were outside with boxes of frozen fudge bars for all the kids. I saw that they’d run out and I gave mine to a younger kid who didn’t get one and I never thought anything about it. But the next day, a yellow rose was delivered to our house from this kid’s mom as a thank you.
It blessed me beyond measure and I’m in my 30’s now, always looking for ways to make people feel the way that kid’s mom made me feel that day. 🙂
That made me get a lump in my throat. I think this is the best “first flowers” story I’ve heard. I bet you didn’t even realize how much what you did meant. And that mama–what a sweet recognition. I love this so much.
Friend hears the knock at the door, looks down at her stained t-shirt and inappropriate, mostly see-through, leggings- panics. “Who can that be? I’m not expecting anyone. I didn’t order anything did I?” Friend attempts to redo her messy bun at the mirror in the entryway while her children keep yelling “Mom, the door! get it!” Friend tries to quietly hush them so whoever is on the other side of the door doesn’t realize she’s just a couple of feet away now wiping up the mascara that has somehow found its way underneath her left eye. Friend reconciles that this is as good as it’s going to get, shoos children to go find the clothes they took off sometime ago to avoid having them standing in the doorway in their underwear. Friend takes a deep breath opens the door with a forced smile. See’s long cardboard box and thinks “wait.. so I did order something…?”
and that’s how it would go at my house… lol but the flowers would so make up for the panic. lol
Thank you for the code!!!
Totally made me laugh. It would be a lot like that in our house too!
Gets vase out.
Trips over dog.
Vase shatters.
Mom curses.
And cries.
And remembers…FLOWERS!
It’s funny — I don’t remember the first time I received flowers, but I definitely remember the first bouquet that arrived for my younger sister! They showed up at our door on her 13th birthday from a crush . . . a young man who somehow (how? how in the world?) convinced a parent to send a pricey floral arrangement to my sis. “Flattered” doesn’t even begin to describe how she felt, and I still think that was just the sweetest thing!
These flowers are beautiful, and nice to know they last a while. I adore fresh flowers in the house, but that’s my biggest complaint: they seem to lose their beauty and luster so quickly.
First flowers I ever received were in high school. It was my prom night. I was taking a male friend, because the guy I liked was a poor university student, just home for the summer. I was getting ready and my aunt told me I had a package at downstairs. I came down to find a long, white box on the dining room table. Inside, wrapped in white tissue were 11 long stem pink roses. The card (inside a lovely cream envelope) read “Eleven lovely roses next to you surely makes a perfect dozen. Have fun at prom, Duane” I swooned. Duane and I are still Facebook friends, although the relationship fizzled after that summer. Still, I think it was one of the most romantic things someone has ever done for me.
DUANE! A perfect name for this story. :o)
I remember getting my first flowers as clear as day. In high school I commented to my best friend that she had gotten so many flowers (she kept them dried out on top of her dressers). Back then it was always roses of course, and seeing that I had no boyfriends or even any dates on the horizon I didn’t see any roses in my near future. So, being the fabulous friend that she is, she snuck into my house later in the week and dropped me off a bouquet of roses. I’ll never forget that.
…or you could support small businesses and buy from your local florist…. (I say this because I am one, and companies like this are making us a thing of the past)
Kelle, Love the Tropical Love bouquet and am sending it to my 89 year old Mom who makes me happy every day. She is originally from California but has lived the last 70 or so years in Houston because my Dad was an Engineer for Texaco. My two brothers live in Houston and look after her on a regular basis. I live in Palacios, Texas but talk to her every day and travel to Houston to see her every month or so. She has been a widow for the past 29 years due to my Dad passing away from a heart attack at 65. She is the smartest, strongest, talented, hardiest and caring person I know. I feel fortunate to have her in my life. Truly enjoy your blog.
Shell Johs
Kelle – I keep seeing the black shirt with the flowers on the top and I really want one – do you mind saying where you got it!