Memorable Mother's Day 1976 Excerpt

Hello and welcome to the Focused on Story Blog!
This Sunday, May 12, we celebrate Mothers, always the second Sunday in May. It's a special day to honor our mothers or the person who was so important in a child's life.

When we were in the flower business, Mother's Day was the biggest day of the year. I bet you thought it would be Valentine's Day or Christmas. But no. I was surprised when we bought the shop and the owner told me how crazy busy this day would be. And she was right!

I'm writing a memoir about that first year in business, so I thought I'd give you a glimpse of what my first Mother's Day in 1976 was like. You can imagine being a newbie in the flower industry and being thrown into this whirl of activity.

Memorable Mother's Day 1976 by J.Q. Rose--Excerpt

Boxes of special Mother’s Day containers for the wired flowers service like Teleflora arrived. We didn't really receive wires, like a telegraph line. The orders were phoned in. Of course, there were no emails since the internet wasn't even on the horizon in 1976.

Like a kid at Christmas time, I reveled in unboxing the lovely vases that only Teleflora members could offer to their customers.

We were also members of Redbook and Florafax. I was a bit fearful of having so many wire services opening us up to delivering flowers from people all over the country. But they also allowed us to send flowers through florists located throughout the country. We kept a percentage of the sale and charged a service fee for the flower service.

The week of Mother’s Day, we had even more buckets of fresh flowers in the cooler than for any previous holiday in order to make arrangements for the anticipated sales. Colorful sweetheart roses and orchids for corsages also took up space. The cymbidium orchids created elegant corsages which could be made several days in advance because they held up so well out of water. 

Cymbidium orchids for Mom's corsage
Image by Takashi Murakami from Pixabay 

I quickly learned how to put an orchid corsage together by covering the wire with floral tape, forming a hoop with the covered wire  and  placing it behind the orchid to protect the fragile petals rather than piercing the stem with the wire. 

Other flowers made into eye-catching corsages kept the secret that the poor flower was pierced and wrapped and twisted into that lovely balanced shape, but all the wicked piercings and twistings were covered with floral tape and leaves, so no one saw the behind-the-scenes torturing of the flowers that went into the design to become a delicate corsage.

In 1976 there were no big box stores selling corsages or plants and fresh flowers. No grocery stores or gas stations on the corner sold flowers. Florists were kings in the domain of supplying moms with a gift of flowers. Flowers were what you bought mom. Not a new Keurig coffee pot or Ninja blender. Not even jewelry. So you can imagine how that one day was so important to florists in order to make their money for the year because it was even bigger than the Christmas season.

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Needless to say, I was overwhelmed as we went through Mother’s Day week and the piles of orders for delivery in time for Mother’s Day tested the strength of the clips. Yes, clips, not just one clip for the day. We had to grab several clips to hold all of the orders.

I separated the floral orders into separate piles-- potted flowering plants and hanging baskets, planters, fresh arrangements, and corsages. Bringing order to the piles soothed my ragged nerves a bit, and I felt I was contributing to helping with moving the order-filling along. Although we had worked nights before Saturday to try and get ahead of the orders, the work on the design table on the Saturday before Mother’s Day was daunting. I’d get the pile trimmed down, but Winifred kept taking orders! I remembered my floral design instructor’s words—“No matter if you have $50 worth of orders on your table or $500 worth, you’ll have them done by the end of the day.” I hoped he was right!

This memoir is not completed. I am looking for a title. Any ideas? Please leave a title or comment below. Thank you.

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I hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day, and even if you don't celebrate the day on Sunday, you can always say, "Thanks, Mom" any day. 

My Mom in 1956
Thanks, Mom. Have a Heavenly Mother's Day!

To all Moms and those who were like a Mom to a child, have a relaxing Happy Mother's Day!

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Celebrating Teachers Appreciation Week and Mother's Day This Week

Click here if you would like to listen to this week's blog post.

Hello and welcome to the J Q Rose blog!

This week in the U.S. we are celebrating special people in our lives as we observe Teacher Appreciation Week and Mother's Day. (Mother's Week would be appropriate too since it really would take more than one day to celebrate all the things moms do for us!!)

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week from JQ Rose.

Combining this post with Mother's Day and Teacher Appreciation Week is right on for me in my situation because my mother was my second grade teacher! In our small elementary school in Central Illinois, our second and third grade classes were big enough to need an extra teacher, but not enough to make a full second classroom of students. So instead, the overflow of students was placed in one room made up of second AND third graders. Kind of like the days when there were one room schoolhouses with all grades in one open room. 

My mother was assigned the task of teaching both classes in her one classroom. Having Mom as my teacher was difficult for both of us. From my perspective, as her daughter, she was harder on me than on any other kids in the class. I didn't realize at the time she didn't want anyone to accuse her of showing any favoritism toward me.

A photo of my mom, my second grade teacher.

As trying for me to have her as a teacher, she faced issues in her grown-up world of combatting those who might think she just gave me A's because I was her daughter. To avoid that criticism, she had the other second grade teacher grade my papers and tests. 

When Mother's Day came around that spring, our class made art projects to surprise our mothers. Since my mother knew what the gift was going to be, I walked up to her and asked her, "Since I don't have a mother, can I make this project for my grandmother Maw?" She told me many years later, it tore her heart when I said I didn't have a mother, even though she realized in my 7-year-old mind, I meant I couldn't surprise her with the gift. We laughed about it realizing in our hearts how difficult that year had been for both of us.

This weekend we honor mothers and women who are important in our lives.

Wishing all you Moms 

and women who are special to a child, 

a very

Happy Mother's Day!

If you have a mom, grandma, aunt, or woman in your life, grab her and give her a big hug and kiss.

Are you a teacher? Thank you. Are you a Mom? Thank you.

Honor "Second Moms" on Mother's Day

My Second Mom by J.Q. Rose

Many of us have been “mothered” by someone other than our mothers who gave us birth. Mother’s Day honors mothers, but also all those women who have taken on a role as mother--an aunt, sister, grandmother, friend.

On this special day for honoring women who love and care for children, I choose to honor Alma Lee.

In 1976 my husband, baby daughter, and I moved from Central Illinois to West Michigan to a place that was new to us to start our own business. We had no family or friends there. We had no support system because we gave up good jobs to live my husband’s dream--to have a greenhouse, raise plants, and sell them. We wanted to carve out a new life for us. It was exciting, scary, hard work, and challenging all at once.

A cute floral shop came along with the greenhouse business. The flower shop, located in a charming chalet, was attached to the greenhouses. Flower shop? The only flower know-how I had was what I had learned by helping my dad set up flowers for a funeral and then racing them out to the grave site before the family came for the internment service. Yes, my parents were in the funeral business.

Did we know anything about the flower business? No. Did my hubby know anything about the greenhouse business? Only what he’d learned from his hobby growing experience in Illinois.

Thank goodness when we bought the business, Morris and his wife, Alma Lee, came with it! Morris worked with my husband. Alma Lee was the lady who became my second mom.

This kind and loving woman who was probably in her mid-50’s invited us for Sunday dinners and made the best tasting home cookin’ ever. She introduced me to windmill cookies and tea. She played with our daughter and loved her. And their 12-year-old son would rough house with our daughter on the floor laughing and giggling together.

Going to her house was like going home. We could leave the long hard week behind us and forget all the pressures to relax and enjoy Sunday afternoons at Alma Lee’s.

When I look back at that time in my life, I realize how special Alma Lee was to me, not just preparing meals or babysitting. She gave us her heart, and I gave her mine. Always ready to listen and to help, she truly took on the role of mother.

Though she has passed, she will remain with me forever as my second mom.

Do you have a special person in your life who you would consider as your second mom? Please leave a comment below and share about that special lady.'

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms 

and to those women who are involved in children's lives.

Thanks, Mom...

Remembering Moms

Wishing all you Moms 

and women who are special to a child, 

a very

Happy Mother's Day!

This weekend we honor mothers and women who are important in our lives. If you have a mom, grandma, aunt, or woman in your life, grab her and give her a big hug and kiss.

My mother above and my mother-in-law below.
 I miss them.

Today I recall all the times my mother and I shared shopping, eating, wedding planning, births of our daughters, trips, talking, and so much more. Memories are powerful to keep your loved one's spirit with you.

On this Mother's Day weekend I remember my mother-in-law, a loving. caring woman. She was kind and thoughtful to me and gave the best hugs ever! She was taken too soon from this earth by cancer. 

Although these women are gone physically from my life, I can still feel their warmth around me every day and see them in the faces of my children and grandchildren. 

I was blessed to have them in my life.

Mother's Day Reflection

My beautiful girls on a fall farm tour.

Mother's Day is the day when mothers are celebrated for their unselfish work raising families. This Mother's Day for me was a time to appreciate my beautiful daughters who have grown into lovely young women. They are moms now too and are making a contribution to our society through their work and home.


Mother's Day is a time for reflection, nostalgia, and appreciation for the blessing of children in our lives. National Children's Day in the USA is June 10, 2012,  a day that revives, celebrates, and commits to our children and their future.


I wrote a poem about my daughters over ten years ago. I'll share it with you, dear readers, today.


Still


Today she smiles at me--
the same smile I saw at three.


Her sparkling eyes reveal the mischief
still insider her.


The glow of excitement on this day reminds me
of her childish joy on Christmas mornings.


Her exhilaration is as difficult to contain 
as if she were ready to blow out the candles 
on her birthday cake.


I see and remember the little girl who lives
still in this beautiful young woman,
as I adjust her bridal veil.


copyright J Q Rose 2012

Mother's Day and Peace

Wishing you all a very happy Mother's Day!

Do you know that Mother's Day evolved from mothers meeting together to promote peace?  

According to many sources and Wikipedia the first attempts to establish a "Mother's Day" in the U.S. were mostly marked by women's peace groups.A common early activity was the meeting of groups of mothers whose sons had fought or died on opposite sides of the American Civil War. There were several limited observances in the 1870s and the 1880s but none achieved resonance beyond the local level.

In 1868 Ann Jarvis created a committee to establish a "Mother's Friendship Day" whose purpose was "to reunite families that had been divided during the Civil War", and she wanted to expand it into an annual memorial for mothers, but she died in 1905 before the celebration became popular. Her daughter Anna Jarvis would continue her mother's efforts.


Women have been in the forefront of peace movements to save their children from that horredous experience and to try and unite people to make a better world for everyone.


Marrying promoting peace with honoring mothers is a powerful idea. Now let's do it!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!!

On this special Sunday we honor our mothers for the work they put into rearing us. A mother's job is one of joy and hardship, worry and celebration, laden with love, unconditional love.

I wrote a chapbook many years ago to honor mothers and daughters. Today I share a poem from that book.

No Matter My Age

No matter my age or places I'll see
There's still a little girl inside of me.

I remember the warmth and the love you have shown.
I know in my heart I am never alone.

'Cause no matter my age or places I'll see
I'll carry you, Mother, forever with me.

           Janet L. Glaser
           copyright 1996