PROVO – A woman with a thin garland of white flowers
encircling her head stands surrounded by elegant scents, vibrant colors, and cheerful
lighting. The mirrors in front of her reflect her frame as she wraps each stem
and bouquet with care, knowing that these flowers will have no ordinary ending.
This is your typical flower shop. Located on the corner of
University Avenue and Bulldog Boulevard, it’s one of many stores in the Flower
Patch chain along the Wasatch front. But Kat Gee realized long ago that working
with flowers is not your typical job. Flowers are a gateway into the human
soul.
“I dig for stories,” Gee said. “There are a lot of emotions
that come with flowers.”
When a customer walks in the door, Gee’s first question is
if she can help them. As they continue speaking, she explores deeper, looking
for the real motivation behind the flowers. She enjoys when people open up and
give her what she calls “full disclosure.”
Gee’s favorite story is when a man shared how he was
proposing to his girlfriend. Gee saw how deeply his love ran as he described a scene
from Tangled, his girlfriend’s favorite movie, which he was using to propose.
Emotions run high and deep in individuals’ lives. People buy
flowers for marriages, funerals, high school proms, budding friendships, apologies
and many other circumstances. For all of these, genuine care and love is the
motivator.
“Flowers are personal,” Stephanie Jarstad, a senior from
Washington majoring in photography, said. She said that the different meanings
conveyed by the variety of colors, styles, and seasons in which flowers are
available make them a sweet-smelling, personalized gift.
For BYU students, a flower shop that is close by and reasonably
priced helps them express their love and care for others. The friendliness of
people like Gee brings people back as they need more flowers.
Blake Wassom, a junior from McKinney, Texas majoring in
Spanish, said that while flowers do not last more than a week, the satisfaction
comes in the moment of giving and the thought behind it.
“Things that are beautiful don’t usually last forever,”
Wassom said.
No comments:
Post a Comment