People smile brightly when they receive a bouquet. They often ask questions. “Do I need to snip an inch off the stems?” “What kind of flowers are these?” I have to confess. I do not know anything about the care of flowers or gardening. What I know is that petals and blooms brighten spaces and faces.

The fragrance is scent-sational. As people get along, get around and bounce back from illness, the rescued flowers speak in a way that all cultures can understand. Their unique language simply says, “You matter. Have a good day. Here is a little something for your kitchen table. Here is a little gift you can pass along to someone else. Someone cares.”

Someone told me how “lucky” I am. I have to agree. “Patricia, you get to make people happy every day. It might be a gloomy day or perhaps someone got bad news. You come in bearing a gift of free flowers and spirits are lifted. Maybe for a few minutes or maybe for the rest of the day.”

Yes, that is exactly how I feel, too. My spirits soar for the rest of the day! I am certainly a lucky gal.

My favorite story? I have a lot of them. I think maybe it was yesterday when I gave flowers to people waiting at a bus stop in the rain. A sweet grandmotherly type of lady asked me if she could have six of them so she could pass them out to other people when she got on the bus. She said, “These flowers remind me of the good old days when people did nice things for one another. This is called the City of Brotherly Love, did you know that?”

Just a few pictures of the wonderful people that I have met along the flowering way.