Flowers Of The Month

We have a friend that was a confirmed bachelor. He owned a home on a lake and lived by himself. He loves to fish and hunt and so his setting was perfect. He would come home from work and would spend the evenings fishing. In the fall of the year he would go goose and duck hunting every day of the season. Then he met the woman that he is now married to. He went from being single for 43 years to having a wife 2 step children three step grandchildren and a daughter of his own. He is a changed man.

He is a very nice person, but having lived by himself for so many years he was quite centered on himself. He would not shop for holiday or birthday gifts for others. I was very surprised when we went to visit and there was a bouquet of anniversary flowers on the table. They had been married for 14 months at the time. His wife told me that she has received a bouquet of the flowers of the month each month since they were married. She stated that on their first month of marriage she found out that she was pregnant. She had stopped at his work place to tell him this on her way back from the doctor’s office. Later that afternoon the first bouquet from flowers of the month arrived at her desk at the bank where she works. She thought this was so special and thoughtful. She was shocked when on the same day the next month the flowers of the month arrived again. They live in the small community where he grew up. It is a rural farming community and so everyone knows everyone else. One day the florist stopped at the bank. She noticed the flowers and asked if our friend’s wife was enjoying her membership in the flowers of the month club. The florist has done this service for many of the men that live in the community. When they order flowers she asks them if they would like her to send out a bouquet each month. She offers different prices and keeps the cost low by using the seasonal flowers of the month. This has improved her business and many of the marriages in the small town.

After our friend was married two years the small company he worked for went out of business. There were no other jobs for him in the small community so the couple moved to another state. They now live in a growing suburb of a large city. We went to visit them a few months after they had moved. On the dining room at the new house was a bouquet of flowers. Our friend had found a florist in the new location that provided the flowers of the month program. He knew the flowers made his wife happy and he did not have to try to remember the date of their anniversary. When ever I hear someone say that people never change I tell them the story of our self centered bachelor friend that has turned into a romantic.