Saturday, May 30, 2015

A Goodbye Gift For Mrs. Cazier

 

My daughter has been part of a very close-knit Madrigal Choir group this year,
and at the beginning of February, our high school choir teacher announced
she would be retiring at the end of the school year!  We didn't like that news!
Mrs. Cazier is one of the most patient, kind-hearted teachers you could ever know,
and we will miss her terribly.

Her Madrigals wanted to present her with some special gifts, one of those
being a bouquet of 30 roses, a rose from each of the 30 Madrigals.
They were going to present the bouquet on the evening of a farewell banquet
that's held every year toward the end of the school year.
When I order roses, I order in bunches of 25, which meant I would need
to order 2 bunches and have 20 extra roses.  The Madrigal group
consists of juniors and seniors, 16 of which are seniors.
I e-mailed Mrs. Cazier and told her I would have some extra roses from an "event"
 that I was doing flowers for, and I could bring them to place on the tables
as centerpieces. After my daughter presented the roses to Mrs. Cazier,
she announced that the seniors could each take one of the roses from the tables.
I could see that they were very surprised by that.  It's fun to surprise people with flowers!

My daughter came home from school yesterday and said that Mrs. Cazier just 
kept going on and on about the flowers and how much she loved them!
They're called Pink Akito.  I love them, too!

We wish Mrs. Cazier the very best in all that she does!  I'm so grateful
3 of my kids got to have her as their choir teacher.

Flowers for Mike

 
I think it's time to do another wedding!
I've had way too many funerals lately, and most have been family.
Honestly, it is an honor for me to do flowers for funerals.
I find myself wanting to make sure they're "just so."
I hope each family knows that they're done with love,
and that they will bring comfort to the family as well.

My cousin's husband passed away last weekend and I was asked if I would
make the spray for his casket.  I've only done one other casket spray,
and that was last week for my stepfather-in-law.
I had a little help with that one, but for this one I was on my own.
I was told that an easel spray had been ordered with red roses and sunflowers,
and luckily, I was able to get those flowers.  I was pleased with how it turned out.

My parents also asked me to do a grave spray from the extended family members.
I didn't have my nice camera, so had to take the pics with my cell phone,
(I apologize for the blurriness), but I also thought it turned out pretty.
I always have a hard time deciding when I don't have guidance on what flowers to use.
I decided on a mix of spring/summer colors.

Kaelyn, your family is in my thoughts.  Love you!

Friday, May 22, 2015

Saying Goodbye to Grandpa Bill


 

 

 



 It's been quite a week around here.  We received a call on Monday night informing us that
my mother-in-law's husband passed away.  It's always such a bitter-sweet thing.
He'd been struggling so much, especially the last two weeks of his life,
so we're grateful he's free from the pain he had to endure.

My mother-in-law asked me a couple of times if I'd want to do flowers.
I've always had a desire to learn how to do a casket spray and easel spray,
but figured I would get my mother-in-law's help if I was ever asked.
She is the person I went to when I was first learning to do flowers, but I knew she
wouldn't be able to help me this time.  I was hesitant and very nervous,
but with a little bit of help from my mother-in-law's former business partner and dear friend,
we were able to get the flowers done.  We had a little bit of drama with the roses (they literally arrived 2 hours before we were supposed to be at the funeral home.)
The only thing my mother-in-law requested for the flowers were orange roses,
so I couldn't let her down!  And what beautiful roses they were!  Stunning, in fact!

My children are going to miss their Grandpa Bill.  He was such a wonderful, fun-loving,
kind and gentle soul, and we look forward to the day we will be reunited.