Flowers- an expression of comfort at the time of a loss
Life presents us with many different situations. Some are joyful and some very sad. Two recent funerals of those very close to me showed one more way that the beauty of nature can help ease the pain. This is not to say that people should not make charitable donations in some one’s memory; but let us not lose sight of the purpose flowers play in all of life’s celebrations and especially at the time of the loss of a loved one. Flowers are the physical presence of love and feelings. W. Carter Merbrier, a Philadelphia minister and Captain Noah on Channel 6 for so many years, wrote “please send the pastor flowers”. He had seen the comfort that the flowers brought to grieving families and friends when the church or funeral home was filled with beautiful bouquets. He wanted that same feeling at his service. I saw first hand the same thing many years ago, when I was asked to come to a local funeral home and help display the arrangements that were sent by so many in the community to the funeral of a young girl who had been killed in a hit and run accident. You could hardly walk in the door of the funeral home for all of the flowers. I was in the room when the family arrived. It was clear that they received comfort from knowing that so many felt so much love and sympathy. This is the reason for flower arrangements at any of life’s ceremonies, and most important at the time of a loss.
We decorate our homes at Christmas, our tables at Thanksgiving, our churches at Easter. We surround the bride and groom at weddings with flowers and our parties wherever they may be. Inaugurations and Coronations are lavishly decorated with flowers. It is such a shame when there are no flowers at a funeral.
Research has shown that flowers and plants help heal us when we are injured. They help stimulate more ideas and more creative ideas in the workplace. And most of all, they are the gift that elicits the most joy from a recipient. With these qualities, they have been used for centuries at the time of death. I witnessed and experienced the comfort of flowers at those recent funerals.
One may think that I feel this way because we sell flowers. Quite the contrary, we sell flowers because we feel this way.
Charles F. Kremp 3rd is owner of Kremp Florist serving Philadelphia and the suburbs. Kremp’s main store in Willow Grove has been ranked as one of the finest in the country.
