In loving memory

Loosing some loved one is a very sad experience.

a selection of wilderness from around my home, which will be soon in Germany ... they loved our heather 

Funerals, anniversaries of  loved ones and sympathy flowers for grieving relatives are a core business of every florist. Over those last 35 years I had to deal with a lot of sad and distressed people on a very regular base. You are never really prepared for it and often it just breaks your heart to witness so much pain. There are moments where all what you can do is just shed a tear with your customer, hold or hug them and it can be hard to stay 'professional'. A funeral is only the beginning of a long process of trying to find a way of living without that loved person.

Even if you try to understand that pain, it only hits you fully when you loose a close family member yourself. Exactly a year ago  I found myself together with my sisters once more on the other side of the counter in our floristshop in our hometown of Dinkelscherben. We tried to order something appropriate for our beautiful Mama. We just wanted something special for her, something which reflected her love of Nature and flowers .... .

'unserer lieben Mama' - a large variation of sesonal flowers

The 6 Grandchildren's planted wreath

 

beautiful planted arrangement from my friends in Ireland

Like for my Dad I had the desire to do something very authentic for her funeral. My experience over the years was, that you get great consolation and even healing out of the fact that you arrange something very personal  yourself for your deceased family member. A lot of memory-stirring would be involved in that ... what person was your Mum or Dad or brother or sister, child or husband and wife .... . What love or passion did they have, what was their favorite place in the garden, their preferred color, their most loved flower. Memories might hurt, when you bring them up, but they also might put a smile on your face every now and then.
Over decades coffin sprays have been arranged in whites, creams and greens. Lilies and Roses, carnations and chrysanthemums .... .
My Mum wasn't the type of a person and so wasn't my Dad. They were country people, who didn't grow that type of flowers. To get some ideas going, I did go down memory lane, as I strolled for hours all along those forest paths, over fields and meadows, where they brought us when we were little and where we brought them when their hairs had gone grey. My Mum had a great passion for hedgerows - as you do - mainly because they provided a home to much wildlife. All those berries were food for birds and those thorny bushes shelters for their nests. But also mammals could use them as a safe corridor without being exposed to any predators.
Soon I had a picture of the coffin spray established in my mind, which could have done justice to reflect her spirit.
It involved sunflowers, lots of sunflowers, which I harvested on a field nearby, along with some colorful gladioli... and berries of all kinds ... but mainly rosehips, as she liked her rosehip tea infusion and I loved their flowing movement from a florists point of view. Combined with some foliage from her garden, which might even act as a small personal message, and the wild greenery and twigs from my walk I created a happy and lively looking coffinspray.

the parents favorite place - under the apple trees at the back of the house

preparing the coffinspary

berries .... lots of berries

the finished product - a reflection of a nature loving life

It is one year now, but that smile lasts forever....

smiles last forever - RIP Mama

'In loving memory' workshops will be offered throughout the year - the first one about mid October. During those 2 - 3 hours I will introduce you to a range of possibilities how to arrange something special, personal and seasonal for your loved one.