Loving Flower Stories

Ann H GabhartAnn's Posts, One Writer's Journal

Love is the only flower that grows and blossoms without the aid of the seasons. – Kahlil Gibran

My giveaway contest to celebrate Small Town Girl is going great. Entries are coming in from all over and you wouldn’t believe how many of us are out there who “never win.” One of those people will be winning those wind chimes and one of my books on July 13. The first prize is two dozen roses and so it seemed the perfect time to ask you to share memories of a time you got a special bouquet or a surprise one. I’m getting the most wonderful stories. Some very short. Some a little funny. Some with a twist. Some showing a lot of love. I’m going to be sharing a few of those stories here and on my Facebook page during the next few weeks. If you haven’t entered the contest yet, you still have time. Just send me an e-mail from my website (you can see complete details of the contest there on my Event page too) or leave a comment here with a way to contact you should be the lucky winner.

Flowers can mean so many different things to us according to when we received them and who gave them to us. One of the surprise bouquets mentioned most often in the contest entries were those dandelions or daisies clutched in the hand of a smiling child or grandchild. I’ve been the recipient of those kind of bouquets and I’ve also helped the grandchildren pick flowers to give their mamas. Pure love that makes those short stemmed and wilted dandelions the most beautiful flowers in the world. 
Lois agrees in her story. “My flower story is when my daughter was about 4 years old – now she
is 40 – she gave me a bunch of dandelions in a fruit jar for
Mother’s Day and she was soooo very proud. They were the best flowers
I  have ever received.”

Rosemary’s story shows that grandmothers like those kinds of bouquets too. “One day when I was out, my grandchildren stopped
by to visit. When I came home I found some flowers picked from my garden along
with a note that said: Hi Grandma, we stopped by and watered your flowers. We
love you! I treasured that note and put it away in my keepsake box. Thinking of that day always brings a smile.”
All grandmas have a keepsake box in their heart for memories like that. Karen certainly keeps this next memory of a special flower in her heart. It happened on the day she was watching her grandson on the day graduate from preschool in cap and gown and all. 
“Parents, grandparents, teachers and
children had filled the church sanctuary waiting for the ‘solemn’
occasion to begin. As we sat on the edge of our seats, turning to view the
children as they marched in to ‘Pomp and Circumstance,’, imagine my surprise as my
grandchild passed by me and suddenly broke line, ran back to where I was
sitting, and in his most precious voice said, ‘Grandma, this is for
you!’ 

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but I
felt extremely honored as his parents, his other grandparents and my husband
were all there. Even though it was not a big bouquet, but one single
small flower that had bloomed among the grassy area, which he picked outside of
the church as the class was waiting their turn to enter the building, in
my eyes it was.  What fun it was to recall that day in my life.

Flowers have a way of making us feel loved. Flowers give us a way to show that love as Karen’s grandson did. But sometimes the surprise can be double whammy. Mary’s story made me smile.

“My son gave me a lovely bunch of
flowers once. It was certainly a surprise because he pulled them up from our
garden, roots and all. The thought was there & we did manage to re-plant
most quite successfully.”

 Earth laughs in flowers.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Thanks for reading. More flower stories to come.