Flower Gals - November 25, 2017
On my jog-walk recently, I listened to a “This American Life” podcast called “The Job That Takes Over Your Life.” I cannot say that I ever had a paying job that took over my life. My paid-for-working jobs were normally short, part-time contracts. But there were times when my volunteer work moved into our house and took over a few rooms.
In this story I won’t even talk about cats – though I was running a cat shelter in our home at the time. No, this is a story about plant life – a program called “Random Act of Flowers.”
I don’t even know how it started or what organization we actually reported to. It was in the years 2004 to 2009. My ministry partner at All Peoples United Church was Irja Coe, and we also volunteered for Chaplaincy to Long-Term Care Facilities.
Somehow, we decided that we wanted to spend a Thursday afternoon every week visiting people who didn’t get many visitors, in area long-term care facilities (LTCFs). But visiting wasn’t enough – we wanted to leave them behind a special symbol of our visit. We hit upon giving them a small bouquet of flowers and a card that said something like “God loves you and we do too! – Irja and Jan.” (This was the informal motto of Chaplaincy to LTCF.)
So, I wrote all the LTCFs in the Sudbury Region and six of the eight got in touch with me to say that they would be delighted to have us visit. I asked about how many people that would be and was surprised to find out there were about 40 to 50 individuals in six of the residences who didn’t get a lot of visitors.
So where does one get 40 cards and 40 bouquets of flowers every week, when you have a budget of zero dollars? The cards were no problem. I simply printed them off on my computer. Tiny vases or glasses I could pick up at the area thrift stores for very little money. Mind you, 160 vases a month did add up – but I also had a part-time job at that time and it provided extra money.
Flowers. They ain’t cheap. Nor should they be! What to do? I contacted a local flower shop – Lougheed’s – and asked if they ever had flowers that were “past their prime” that they would like to donate to a worthy cause. What a bold person I was! And thankfully, the folks who ran Lougheed’s were absolutely delighted to give Irja and me flowers for this cause. It helped that they all knew Irja and adored her.
So, Thursday morning, after I did my half hour workout at Curves, I would head to Lougheed’s and they would give me buckets of greens and some very nice flowers. I brought them back home. My daughter Elaine would fill the 40 some vases and cups with water and I would trim the greens and flowers and stick them into the containers. (You have to know that I am terrible with flowers – I have a black thumb. And I have no design sense whatsoever. No worries, I never let “perfect” become the enemy of “well-intended.)
These bouquets were then slotted into a number of dollar store containers and I hauled them into the van. I then picked up my friend Irja and we said a little prayer, and off we went to one of the facilities. Probably the biggest challenge was finding a cart onto which to place our bouquets and roll them into and around the facilities. The second was finding a parking space. Thankfully (?) Irja was in her 90s and had severe arthritis so she had a handicapped parking sign. There was a third challenge – Sudbury winter weather. Some of our bouquets had their leaves frozen off in the journey. Ah well.
We went to the director of volunteers’ office, got our list, and off we went. We were an interesting duo. Irja was older than most of the people we visited, though you’d never know it. And I was “mainlining” pop the entire time. You see, I have a weak stomach. Just a hint of strong urine or adult feces and I pretty much need to wretch. However, I found that constantly drinking diet coke helped. Man, was I wired by the end of the afternoon!
Most folks were genuinely glad to see us and enjoyed a wee visit. A few wanted nothing to do with us – and we understood completely. Both of us admitted that we never wanted to live in a LTCF and that we too would be thoroughly miserable if we had to.
I don’t know how it happened that one time we had a few plushies (stuffed toys) in our cart – but they were a real hit with folks who had dementia and those who were mentally challenged. So, I put out a call in the newspaper and area church bulletins for clean, small, stuffed toys. I got phone calls by the dozens and plushies by the hundreds. I confess that some of the plushies were so cute that I had a hard time parting with them. I would find myself hoping that the person we were visiting would pick another one, so I could hold on to this one toy for yet another week. Silly, I know. And yes, by now I had a room dedicated to vases, cups, and plushies – to say nothing of the kitchen being taken over weekly. Laur came home to a leafy, watery mess to be sure, often mistaking it for supper preparation.
Another thing that Irja and I noticed is that there were residents who did not even have their own blanket. They had an institutional one. Hmm. So, I put out a call for pre-existing home-made blankets – knitted, crocheted, quilted, and / or sewn. And I once again made a visit to all the area thrift stores. I ended up washing and drying close to 100 blankets, which Irja and I distributed over the following months – plus we left a few in the volunteers’ office for anyone we might have missed.
Nothing lasts forever – including Random Act of Flowers. My dear friend Irja had a bad fall and could no longer accompany me on my visits. And to be honest, without Irja, I didn’t have the grit to continue. Yes, it was rewarding, but yes, it was also exhausting on many levels. I have so much admiration for personal support workers and volunteers in LTCFs.
But I have learned that “Random Act of Flowers” continues – in the US of A! Not only that, this title is now copyrighted, and this non-profit has a budget of nearly 3 million dollars!
I moaned to Laurence, “If only I could have monetized my volunteer work. We could have…” And then I had to stop myself. Laur and I have more than we could ever need or want. Loving family, kind friends, three generous churches, meaningful volunteering, a comfy apartment in St. Catharines, a “vintage” trailer in Arizona, sturdy bikes, and you, dear reader, finding your way to the end of this column.
Happy Thanksgiving Without Borders!
(Actually, some Baptists in El Paso, Texas beat me on that greeting. Ah well…)
In this story I won’t even talk about cats – though I was running a cat shelter in our home at the time. No, this is a story about plant life – a program called “Random Act of Flowers.”
I don’t even know how it started or what organization we actually reported to. It was in the years 2004 to 2009. My ministry partner at All Peoples United Church was Irja Coe, and we also volunteered for Chaplaincy to Long-Term Care Facilities.
Somehow, we decided that we wanted to spend a Thursday afternoon every week visiting people who didn’t get many visitors, in area long-term care facilities (LTCFs). But visiting wasn’t enough – we wanted to leave them behind a special symbol of our visit. We hit upon giving them a small bouquet of flowers and a card that said something like “God loves you and we do too! – Irja and Jan.” (This was the informal motto of Chaplaincy to LTCF.)
So, I wrote all the LTCFs in the Sudbury Region and six of the eight got in touch with me to say that they would be delighted to have us visit. I asked about how many people that would be and was surprised to find out there were about 40 to 50 individuals in six of the residences who didn’t get a lot of visitors.
So where does one get 40 cards and 40 bouquets of flowers every week, when you have a budget of zero dollars? The cards were no problem. I simply printed them off on my computer. Tiny vases or glasses I could pick up at the area thrift stores for very little money. Mind you, 160 vases a month did add up – but I also had a part-time job at that time and it provided extra money.
Flowers. They ain’t cheap. Nor should they be! What to do? I contacted a local flower shop – Lougheed’s – and asked if they ever had flowers that were “past their prime” that they would like to donate to a worthy cause. What a bold person I was! And thankfully, the folks who ran Lougheed’s were absolutely delighted to give Irja and me flowers for this cause. It helped that they all knew Irja and adored her.
So, Thursday morning, after I did my half hour workout at Curves, I would head to Lougheed’s and they would give me buckets of greens and some very nice flowers. I brought them back home. My daughter Elaine would fill the 40 some vases and cups with water and I would trim the greens and flowers and stick them into the containers. (You have to know that I am terrible with flowers – I have a black thumb. And I have no design sense whatsoever. No worries, I never let “perfect” become the enemy of “well-intended.)
These bouquets were then slotted into a number of dollar store containers and I hauled them into the van. I then picked up my friend Irja and we said a little prayer, and off we went to one of the facilities. Probably the biggest challenge was finding a cart onto which to place our bouquets and roll them into and around the facilities. The second was finding a parking space. Thankfully (?) Irja was in her 90s and had severe arthritis so she had a handicapped parking sign. There was a third challenge – Sudbury winter weather. Some of our bouquets had their leaves frozen off in the journey. Ah well.
We went to the director of volunteers’ office, got our list, and off we went. We were an interesting duo. Irja was older than most of the people we visited, though you’d never know it. And I was “mainlining” pop the entire time. You see, I have a weak stomach. Just a hint of strong urine or adult feces and I pretty much need to wretch. However, I found that constantly drinking diet coke helped. Man, was I wired by the end of the afternoon!
Most folks were genuinely glad to see us and enjoyed a wee visit. A few wanted nothing to do with us – and we understood completely. Both of us admitted that we never wanted to live in a LTCF and that we too would be thoroughly miserable if we had to.
I don’t know how it happened that one time we had a few plushies (stuffed toys) in our cart – but they were a real hit with folks who had dementia and those who were mentally challenged. So, I put out a call in the newspaper and area church bulletins for clean, small, stuffed toys. I got phone calls by the dozens and plushies by the hundreds. I confess that some of the plushies were so cute that I had a hard time parting with them. I would find myself hoping that the person we were visiting would pick another one, so I could hold on to this one toy for yet another week. Silly, I know. And yes, by now I had a room dedicated to vases, cups, and plushies – to say nothing of the kitchen being taken over weekly. Laur came home to a leafy, watery mess to be sure, often mistaking it for supper preparation.
Another thing that Irja and I noticed is that there were residents who did not even have their own blanket. They had an institutional one. Hmm. So, I put out a call for pre-existing home-made blankets – knitted, crocheted, quilted, and / or sewn. And I once again made a visit to all the area thrift stores. I ended up washing and drying close to 100 blankets, which Irja and I distributed over the following months – plus we left a few in the volunteers’ office for anyone we might have missed.
Nothing lasts forever – including Random Act of Flowers. My dear friend Irja had a bad fall and could no longer accompany me on my visits. And to be honest, without Irja, I didn’t have the grit to continue. Yes, it was rewarding, but yes, it was also exhausting on many levels. I have so much admiration for personal support workers and volunteers in LTCFs.
But I have learned that “Random Act of Flowers” continues – in the US of A! Not only that, this title is now copyrighted, and this non-profit has a budget of nearly 3 million dollars!
I moaned to Laurence, “If only I could have monetized my volunteer work. We could have…” And then I had to stop myself. Laur and I have more than we could ever need or want. Loving family, kind friends, three generous churches, meaningful volunteering, a comfy apartment in St. Catharines, a “vintage” trailer in Arizona, sturdy bikes, and you, dear reader, finding your way to the end of this column.
Happy Thanksgiving Without Borders!
(Actually, some Baptists in El Paso, Texas beat me on that greeting. Ah well…)