So my household just underwent a traumatic experience that, was met with comfort and care from our friends. I was not surprised they reached out to us, we are blessed with a small but very caring circle.
I was however surprised (And delighted!) to receive so many deliveries of flowers sent to the house. Very touched and grateful as well, of course! Further, I recognize in the time of Covid they can’t just pop in and give us a hug. (Actually one did both!)
So NOT COUNTING: the standards, Birthday, Anniversary, Funeral, Valentines, Girlfriend pissed, please share for what, non standard/offbeat/unusual reasons have you someone sent flowers?
(I have not identified our reason as I’m curious to see if anyone else shares it!)
(Also think I could get some interesting answers from this group!)
I’ve done it a few times, as a birthday gift when I just plain couldn’t think of anything else. I felt it was a cop-out, but hopefully they were enjoyed by the recipient anyway. In fact, I did it just a couple of months ago for my 93 year old grandma and they did go over well.
Before I moved down to NC I was in an online relationship with a woman who lived there. One day I sent flowers to her at work for no particular reason. She told me later that it confused the heck out of her co-workers.
When my son’s first grad teacher saved his life by successfully executing the Heimlich maneuver, I sent her a big bouquet of non-red roses. I felt I had to do SOMETHING, but really, nothing could possibly express the depth of my gratitude. So I went with symbolism.
My gf works at an ad agency. Every year she attends The Addies (sp?), which is like the Oscars for advertising.
A few years ago I recieved advance notice from one of her coworkers that she would be receiving an award and recognition for one of her projects. I arranged for a florist to deliver a huge flower-thing the morning after The Addies.
We were receiving flowers because our dog died. I got five deliveries and wondered if maybe sending flowers, for such an event, was much more common than I imagined. (Or possibly I have extra sweet friends, it seems! )
I was pleased to read someone else had sent flowers for this reason. And, I have to say, each delivery was a really lovely surprise and they definitely DID brightened my day(s).
My dog was old and growing frail, but it was a stunning loss for me.
I am still trying to adjust. I am retired and spend a lot of time alone, while hubs works. But now that aloneness is much more pronounced somehow. Also, walking my dog was my ‘go to’ mental health move if I was upset, plus we walked every day. It’s not the same relaxing distraction for my brain without him. It quickly becomes like a march while laser focused on whatever negative my brain is toying with. Ugh. sigh…
I’ve done it many times for the usual reasons. But an unusual one?
A staff member of the local blood bank is an aspiring thespian. She had a part in a local production and was about five months pregnant. I had an arrangement sent to the blood bank the day of her first performance. Good thing too. She only went on stage once due to her pregnancy.
When my daughter was 5(ish) she took ballet. At her first recital I brought a big bouquet of flowers for her. She loved them, but I got a reprimand from the teacher, since not everyone could afford flowers, thus I hurt some parents’ feelings.
I’m sorry about your dog, elbows.
A few years ago when one of my dogs died, a friend sent a donation in her name to the Humane Society. I thought that was the best possible response, to let something good come out of a tragedy. Ever since then, I do the same for any friend who loses an animal.
My father gave my mother flowers on their wedding anniversary every year. After anniversary 28 he died suddenly (though not unexpectedly). For the next 40 anniversaries I sent my mom flowers with the card saying “thinking of you”.
When we were going through her stuff after her death, she had saved those cards.
I’m sorry about your dog, elbows, but I’ve often thought that sending flowers was a bit like buying a pig in a poke, in that the person paying for the flowers often doesn’t see what is received. Once I paid something like $150 or $200 for anniversary flowers for my parents or my brother and I asked my sister-in-law to send a photo of the arrangement. I was underwhelmed, especially since I made a point of not using one of the big franchises (FTD, Teleflora, 800-Flowers, etc) but instead calling a local florist directly and talking to someone over the phone. I figured if I called FTD or one of the other companies, they would contract with a local florist but would also take a percentage of the money, so why not have the whole amount go to the local company?
The most recent occasion for which I sent flowers was after my sister-in-law’s mother died. In that case I used a local florist’s website but opted for the “florist’s choice”, meaning I was leaving it up to them. It would have been really awkward to ask for a photo.
My SO and I used to have a list of people we knew. Once a month, we would randomly pick someone off the list and send them flowers or a plant or a coffee cake or pralines). Usually the card read something like “Thinking of you”. When we sent flowers, we would often call the florist and tell them we wanted to spend $XXX, go ahead and make anything they like for that amount. We got pictures back of some wonderful arrangements.
) I sent flowers to his partner of 45 years on the anniversary of the death (yahrzeit).