Last Sunday, May 11, was Mother's Day. If you are lucky enough to have your mother alive, did you do something for her? I hope so.
You see, my mom is still alive but has Alzheimer's and lives in a nursing home in Japan. Initially, my aging father moved in with her, but they had separate rooms. But he passed away last year. That was unexpected.
This year, I couldn't visit her even if I wanted, and it was hard. I am sure that anyone whose mom is far away feeling the same. But thanks to the convenience that this modern time offers, I did have a local florist deliver a bouquet to her, and the staff arranged a Zoom chat. Amazing, isn't it?
Even though we, Momoglobal Flowers, are not a florist and normally don’t do deliveries of small bouquets to individuals, I felt compelled to do something. In the current stay-home situation, mothers, well at least the ones I know, have been working much harder than usual; cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, and shopping. Or just like my mom, they were feeling lonely separated from her family and friends. And think of the mothers who are health workers! Their dedication to their profession is just unbelievable.
Luckily, a flower farm in Holland that I can get the best quality flowers just restarted shipping to the US. So, I decided to offer limited delivery of just two types of arrangements to NYC and in New Jersey, taking orders on this website, and also to donate flowers to our local hospital, Hackensack Meridian Health, in Edgewater. I hired a young woman in the building to help assemble flowers (yes, with social distancing), and my son, who has been quarantining with me, was to help me with the delivery.
Well, it turned out to be a nerve-wracking experience. The delivery from Holland was delayed by two days! So instead of two days, we had only one night to prepare all the arrangements. Yes, I kicked myself and thought, "What were you thinking?"
But in the end, we fulfilled 30 orders, donated ten flower arrangements to the hospital, and gave another ten to our building staff working hard to keep us safe. Plus, I was able to surprise seven supportive friends with flowers.
I sincerely thank everyone who made it possible. It was all worth it.
