THE NICEST WAY TO START YOUR DAY!

Since I began the Happy Flower Day Project in May of 2013, thousands of residents in senior living facilities have been surprised by the gorgeous flowers donated by a specialty food market. I am so grateful to them for sharing so many beautiful bouquets. It has been so much fun for me!

More than 65,000 bouquets of fresh flowers have been delivered to surprise people in need of a smile! Moral of the story: Never underestimate the power of a bouquet of flowers for someone in a nursing home or even on the street! The heavenly fragrance, the beauty and the surprise of a gift of flowers has shown me that little things mean a lot. Remember how fabulous it was when someone gave you flowers? When you give a bouquet to someone who is not expecting them, expect joy, social interaction, laughter and happiness. By starting a Happy Flower Day in your community, you are beginning a project that makes a difference.

If you would like to learn more about some of the other social impact and inspirational projects I’ve worked on, you can learn about them here.

What People Are Saying

Thank you very much for spreading your cheer and kindness with our residents here at
Neshaminy Manor. The flowers brought such joy. It was a delight to watch the residents with
their bouquets. It was a wonderful event and we are most grateful.

I just want to thank you for all of the beautiful bouquets that you gave us. It was so nice of you to
get them, fix them up and bring them to each one of us. I heard that you bring them to shut-ins,
too. The flowers bring a lot of joy and happiness. I had the bouquet that you gave me for a whole
week. You are certainly doing God’s work bringing joy and beauty to all of us. Your flowers are
good medicine. Keep up the good work that you are doing to make others happy. God bless you.
Thanks so much. Sending love and prayers.

I loved your story in the “Angels on Earth” magazine. I have always loved giving. When my
husband of 30 years passed away, I learned the benefits of giving at an even greater depth. We
are meant to give love and when we stop loving, it hurts us. When I give love it feels good. To
fill the gap of the love I had for him, I began expressing love to strangers and those who came
along my path. I love surprises! So I give surprises. I start looking for ways to give or surprise
someone whenever I start to feel anxious or sad. Blessing someone else blesses me and helps me.
I was widowed at 47 and I am now 61. Bless you, Patricia!

Trisha, a man and his wife brought flowers to us that were given to him by you. We
immediately arranged them in vases. His wife used to volunteer here and his daughter-in- law
works here. The weather was so cold outside today. These flowers sure warmed up the activity
room. They flowered-up the whole place.

The “Flower Lady” and I went out on Thursday to make her morning rounds. She goes to
participating various stores and picks up donated day-old flowers, then takes them to the elderly
and infirmed around the area. We thought we were going to a nursing home but we decided to go
to a vibrant senior community about to sit down to a special Thanksgiving celebration lunch! We
found lovely people there. We distributed all the flowers we had on that trip to the people at the
Salem Church senior group. This was one of three carloads of flowers that we distributed that
morning. This is all out of the kindness of her heart and it is good for our hearts to support her
with this project.

Trisha, I am sending this to my assistant. She has the pictures of us standing outside by your car
with all the bouquets of flowers. She will send them over. The day you brought the flowers was
an awesome day for “the birthday girl – age 104” and our whole community.

Patricia, you know those flowers you gave me two weeks ago, the last time you were here? I
trimmed the stems, put them in a vase, and put in the packet of flower preserver, you know the
powder that makes the flowers live longer. They were in my room for two weeks. I just threw
them away yesterday. They made me feel like a princess!

Patricia, I appreciate the gift of your “throw-away flowers.” I was wondering if we could
schedule a time to do it again. They brought big smiles to our residents and made their world a
little brighter. It is a shame to waste the beautiful bouquets if they can brighten someone’s day
with a colorful surprise. Each recipient had the thrill of feeling special for the day. Our chaplain
was wondering if she could talk to you about getting flowers for the patients she visits. Any help
you could provide her would be great. You are welcome to stop here at any time with the
flowers. You do not need permission to visit. You are not bringing just a bunch of flowers. You
are bringing a bunch of messages that somebody cares. Thank you!

Patricia, I would love flowers for my residents here at Genesis. Please add me to your list.
Thank you.

I had the most unexpected and wonderful afternoon yesterday. My daughter and I attended a
memorial service at Senior Living for all of the residents who had passed away over the last
twelve months which included my mother. My longtime friend Trisha Gallagher brought fifty
plus bouquets that she picked up from a florist that we gave to the residents and staff. The
memorial service was beautiful. More touching was the joy and smiles of the residents and staff
as we passed out the flowers. Thank you to Trisha and the flower donors. And a special thanks to
the Senior Living staff for such a special afternoon.

I was very inspired by your interview on the radio show a few weeks ago. I am very interested in
this project, because I want to bring this to my community, too. My husband is a Deacon, and
has been doing some communion calls at some assisted living places in the area. So I thought
this is a way to begin the project and to spread this idea, to the community and parishes, too. To
encourage outreach for Boston which is my area and surrounding towns. I would love to speak to
you sometime about how you got started, and how I can implement this project here.

Loved, loved, loved the article in the Chestnut Hill Local. I work for the Meals on Wheels and I
would love to talk with you about what you do. And perhaps, if you ever need an “inspiration”
for “God, who needs the gift of a beautiful bouquet today?”- We can provide an answer with the
lovely hearts and souls that we serve meals to. So please give me a call, send a text or send me
an email. Would love, love, love to speak with you! What a beautiful way to help us deliver a
meal to some lovely people - so incredible if we can say it with flowers, too! Thanks for sharing
your story!

Thank you for giving me the idea to start a flower project in our senior community. The florist is
still leaving beautiful bags of flowers for me to pick up on the loading dock. I usually get about
three to four bags worth of flowers. It’s wonderful. We are doing flower arrangements with
different levels of care units, mostly on Mondays and Fridays. On Wednesdays, the flowers go
out to our hospice patients in the community. It has been such a joy for all that get them. Will
talk soon. Hope all is well with you.

I would like to volunteer to help you. I am 91 years old. I used to play the harmonica. What do
you think of this idea? I could get it out and start practicing some patriotic tunes. Then, when you
carry the flowers into the nursing home, I can “announce” the visit by playing Yankee Doodle
Dandy, God Bless America, America the Beautiful, The Battle Hymn of the Republic, The Halls
of Montezuma, Stars and Stripes Forever and The Star-Spangled Banner. I am a little rusty on
those songs but if I practice, I should be able to do that within a few weeks. I might need to buy
another harmonica because this one does not seem to be quite right.

Oh, you are a blessing, Patricia, bringing all of these flowers. Gracious Lord, thank you for this
nice surprise tonight. My mother used to putter about or maybe I should say “potter about” since
she was always in the garden shed doing something with string, pots, and anything garden-y. I
am 96. My girlfriend here is 95. I moved here seven years ago when my wife died. I wish you
could meet my daughter. She lives in California. She is a writer too.

I am happy you came to Legacy Gardens last week. The residents remember your show and
especially your flowers that you brought. It was the HIGHLIGHT of their week. Thank you.
On behalf of the staff, volunteers, and board of ActionAIDS, I want to sincerely thank “The
Happy Flower Day Project” for your donation of beautiful flowers to our AIDS Walk/Run Team
event. This year, we had close to 180 people walk in unity with ActionAIDS!