DAY 40

I’ll admit that before we started The Simple Year, I gave some thought to the standard traditions like Christmas, Birthdays, and Easter, the “BIG THREE”- the hat trick of consumerism if you will.  I figured out a general plan for all of those big holidays and have already started planning for those traditions.

But the best laid plans…

I had forgotten about a very personal tradition to me.  Every year, for the last fourteen, I have sent flowers to my first husband’s mother at the end of May.     On May 30^th, 1964 she gave birth to, and subsequently raised, a remarkable man who died too young at age 34.  The flowers, for me, are a symbol of his life and a thank you to the woman who was responsible for it.  And, most importantly, they are a reminder that even though I have remarried and had a family, I haven’t forgotten.

So suddenly May 30^th was approaching and I realized I couldn’t send my traditional flowers. I could have probably made an exception and classified flowers as a consumable, but I had committed to the Simple Year and only 40 days into the project was a little early to be compromising.  I could also have called her and explained the situation and I know she would have been OK with it.   But, this tradition is as important for me as it is for her (maybe even more so) and I didn’t want to just give it a bye this year.

So, I began to frantically wrack my brain for some solution, most of which were preposterous.  I wasted some time thinking, “Why didn’t I start to GROW some flowers for her earlier?”  This was absurd, because even if I had actually thought ahead and grown my own flowers, she lives a thousand miles away and I couldn’t actually get them to her.  I considered a Craig’s List ad asking some local gardener in her area to “trade” flowers for something.  But, after a little more consideration, that seemed sort of creepy on many levels and I’m not even sure what I would have traded  (although I do have an extra pair of Clark’s size 9 beige sandals).  I had other thoughts, none of them even worth mentioning here.

But, then the answer came to me via GOOGLE (really, how did I function before internet search engines?).  I was searching “recycled flower bouquet”.   Yes—yes, we have already established I was not thinking clearly about the subject.  Although, maybe there is a market for second hand flower bouquets, an interesting idea, maybe a side business for event planners?

Anyway, through this search, I found a video demonstrating how to make flowers out of old magazines.   OK, now that I write that, it also sounds ridiculous.  But, trust me it looks much better than it sounds.  Actually don’t trust me; here is the photo (I already had the vase under my kitchen sink):

I KNOW! Isn't it great? It's like the macaroni necklace of flower arrangements.

And here is my family and friends that I coerced into helping me fold and glue. 

Note: I had to watch the video five times to figure out how to fold the petals. I showed my nine-year-old ONCE and she was good to go.

So, I sent her the bouquet, vase and all, cross your fingers it arrives relatively intact.  This year those flowers were a more than a symbol of love, they were a labor of love.  And my children, who even though they are not related by blood, consider her their mamaw, got to participate in the tradition.

For anyone interested, here is the link to the flower making demo.