Thanks for joining me!
Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton
And so it begins. They say if you love what you do, you never work a day in your life. Well, that is not the way I see it. Work is good and fun. This Midwest work ethic runs deep. As a teacher, I love what I do and it is work, a labor of love. Being creative is work, albeit fun work but still, the mind is on high power, the hands are engaged and the fun is to be had. If there is one thing in the world that I love most, besides the amazing people in my life, is engaging in the creative process with nature, also known as gardening. I could never wear gloves while touching the earth. I know it is a bit mysterious and if I knew everything I was touching, I might wear gloves. I don’t want to know, I just want to do. If we knew everything we were getting into, we might not do anything at all.
I also love to make people feel special, loved and included. If not teaching, then creating a beautiful space to make memories with family and friends. Memories are those moments in life that are captured by the heart and replayed in the mind, felt on the skin and the smell of lavender brings back my grandmother. The coming, the going, the being and the joining. All of it. Some memories are bittersweet and some oh so sweet. I told my uncle that I wanted to do flowers. He sat back in his chair, behind the big glass covered desk at his flower shop in north Minneapolis and chuckled. He gave me some trade “look books” from the 80’s and told me: If you are doing flowers, you are doing funerals too. I balked at first and slightly scoffed, thinking, “nah, I am just doing weddings and parties.” And then I remembered his sister, my mother. He and my mom did a lot of flowers over the years. With them, they DO flowers. Everywhere, flowers: the mall, the street corner, the wedding, the church, the television stations, the hotels, the corporate offices and the funerals. And I remember he did the flowers for his sister’s memorial celebration of life. He wanted the family gathering on the Mississippi River, just north of the Cities where he, my mom and all of the family were raised. Those floral arrangements were an act of love, deep love that is only shared and felt between those two. My uncle did all the flowers for all the family weddings and this funeral. He takes care of us. If that is one thing I can do, it is that: an act of love, no matter the circumstance, no matter the time.
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