Flowers..

*sneaks in this post, lets all pretend I didn’t disappear shall we? Wink, Thanks*

Give people their flowers while they’re here.. we hear this a lot, especially after someone passes. We get deep into reflections, wondering what we are all doing here on earth and remembering that life is but a mist, here a moment, gone the next. Then we all move on with life again, places to be and bills to pay and those metaphorical flowers we had gathered to give our loved ones withers and dies again.

When we were planning my father’s funeral, I was in charge of the tributes and the program and so I got to read all of them before it went to press. When I tell you my heart was bruised, sigh. All the words, beautiful, deep, heartfelt and heart wrenching words, of what he meant to people, of how loved he was, of how he helped people. Even I didn’t know a fraction of these things, I got to actually know my dad and who he was after he passed away. I cried with each submission because my dad died not knowing a quarter of these things, he never knew people felt that way about him, and now he never will.

I like to believe his spirit knows but that’s my way of consoling myself, it would have meant the world to him if he knew, if he could have heard and felt them while he could but now it’s too late.

I think we need to move from thought to action, we must not keep letting death be the only time we honor our loved ones and tell them how much they mean to us, we mustn’t wait to give them their literal and figurative flowers after they’re gone because we can write all we want but they’ll never know, they’ll never see..

I always make my friends and my loved ones write me notes, not just on my birthday or anything but just random notes, love letters if you will. Some of them humor me and send and I have saved every single one of them. I read them often to remind myself and that’s my way of getting them to tell me what I mean to them because why wait?

Giving your loved ones their flowers doesn’t have to be complicated, it can just be doing something for them or telling them with all your heart how much they mean to you, while you can and while they can hear you.

I implore you to send some flowers today, though in this economy, notes are probably cheaper and they’ll never die! But take sometime to intentionally love on your people today. Don’t let the thief of always steal them away from you before you’ve had a chance to tell them what they mean to you.

“Don’t assume people know, tell them they inspire you, tell them you love them. Tell them they are appreciated, show up for them, send them notes of love. Remind them of their worth and value. Take candid photos of and with them. Show them how they matter in your life” – Joel Leon