Flowers...Worth It?
We lived in a metal box
We ate, played, slept, sang, and worked on a ship
Outside
The ship was tied to a cement dock. There were no trees, grass, plants, or even flowers. The only forms of life were a few dead fish that the birds graciously dropped on the dock. We even saw a few dried crabs and seahorses.
One lady on the ship said: "We need flowers."
She searched through all the shops on land. Because of covid, her choice of shops were limited. She was unable to find any flowers. But she didn't stop looking. She asked a few people on board the ship about possibilities of finding flowers.
One day, a vase of wild flowers sat close to the drinks in the food line. "Where did you get flowers?" We asked her. She shrugged her shoulders, "An angel gave them to me, they just appeared outside my cabin door." I watched as she carefully took care of the straggly bits of flowers, putting them in vases around the dining room where we worked.
"The dining room lady wants flowers!" It was soon known all across the ship. Straggly bits of wild flowers began to continually greet her outside of her cabin door. Little vases of those same flowers would be seen singing around the dining room.
Then Easter came and a whole new set of possibilities followed. The ship was flooding with cut flowers all over the place. Cut flowers of all shapes and colors sat on every table. Potted flowers of dark purple and pink decorated the reception area.
Each day she changed the water, trimmed their stems, and took off the dead flowers. We would see the head of the flowers gently floating in water making a last effort to beautify the table even though their stems had broken off. We would see bouquets of flowers become smaller and smaller as the old flowers were taken out, yet the pretty ones remained. Finally, after a few months all remnants of the Easter flowers had disappeared. The ship looked as it did before: Flowerless
I didn't understand her love for the flowers. I understood the potted flowers, because they would last a little longer. But everyday, I would see her trimming, pruning, changing water, and making new bouquets to make the flowers last as long as possible.
"Why do you take so much time on flowers that are going to die?" I asked her as she re-arranged a dying bouquet. "If you take care of them, they can last days and even weeks." She answered."Flowers can brighten a person's day. When I was in the hospital, I had a bouquet of flowers. Everyday, I took care of them. They stayed beautiful for weeks."
***
Friends are like flowers...
....If you move a lot....
...Friends are like cut flowers
First they are hard to find. You search all over. But after a bit you find them and become friends. They are like a beautiful bouquet. But was all the work even worth it? They are flowers with no roots. Months pass, maybe even years but then something happens. The flowers begin to wilt. Someone moves, get marries, changes job or simply transitions into something new away from the rest of the bouquet. Then it is time to say goodbye again. You know they are out there somewhere. You know they are still friends blooming in a different bouquet. But now you have to start all over. Searching again for the bouquet that will fit in your hand.
Was it worth it?
To take care of the bouquet
To change its water
To trim its stems
To rearrange its flowers...
...The Dining Room lady thought they were worth it:
