SOMEONE ENTERED A FLOWER SHOP

The sign on the door read:

Art of Bloom Florist, Sakura Sato Ito, Proprietor

Word of mouth from satisfied customers made the small business very successful.

Sakura was a petite young woman with jet hair and expressive dark eyes

She was well-trained in the Ikebana style, an ancient Japanese art of flower arranging.

It emphasizes harmony between the human and natural worlds.

It was a Spring day that seldom occurred.

The day was perfect, with a bright sun and a cloudless sky.

The sweet fragrance of cherry blossoms perfumed the air.

What a wonderful day to be alive!

Richard and his mother hesitated in front of the door.

His mother nudged him to enter the flower shop.

A tinkling silver bell in front of the door greeted Richard and his mother.

This musical sound alerted Sakura, who was working in the back room.

Sakura decorated the shop with her creations.

While every display was for sale, they provided inspiration to the customers. Seeing the pieces helped customers bring to life the pictures in their minds.

She emerged and approached the couple with a pleasant smile and twinkling eyes.

“Good morning. My name is Sakura. How may I help you today?”

Richard’s mother nudged him again.

“Go ahead, son. Tell her what you need.”

The teenager blushed.

“I need a corsage for my date to the prom on Saturday night.”

Sakura’s smile widened. She asked Richard if he knew the color of the girl’s dress.

“Carole describes the color as ‘blush pink.’”

Next, Sakura asked if he wanted a matching boutonniere.

His mother answered for the young man and said they did.

“You may pick up your items tomorrow. I will use silk flowers, so you can have them as a keepsake.”

“Sakura, that is a wonderful idea.”

“I agree, Mom. It will delight Carole.”

The mother and son left Sakura alone to work on their order.

The next day, Richard and his mother returned to the flower shop.

Sakura showed them the items.

She had created a corsage featuring a full silk blush pink colored rose with a matching bud beside it.

The design included upright stalks made of tiny white pearl beads.

Sakura chose an ostrich feather and a slight semitransparent blush pink ribbon.

Richard’s mother gasped when she saw the creation. Richard was in awe.

Then Sakura displayed the boutonniere: Remarkable not only in its simplicity but in its elegance, too

The item comprised a blush pink rosebud and a single pearl stalk wrapped in the same ribbon as the corsage.

Richard and his mother express their gratitude to Sakura and her artistry.

They paid for the items, promising to return to buy more things.

Left alone in her shop, Sakura smiled with satisfaction.

Another happy customer.

~*~

It was a Summer day that seldom occurred.

The day was perfect, with a bright sun and a sky filled with big, billowy clouds.

The sweet fragrance of mown grass and myriad wild flowers perfumed the air.

What a wonderful day to be alive!

Richard and Carole hesitated in front of the door.

The couple loved one another. Richard and Carole stood with their hands entwined to steady the trembling.

They drew in deep breaths. Then released them.

Richard smiled as he read the sign on the door. Sakura had not altered her signage. It still read:

Art of Bloom Florist, Sakura Sato Ito, Proprietor

The tinkling silver bell in front of the door greeted Richard and Carole.

Richard felt a sense of returning home.

Sakura emerged from the workshop.

As she approached the couple, she felt a sense of vague remembrance when she saw Richard.

She smiled her wonderful smile as she walked towards the couple.

“Welcome to my shop. I am Sakura. How may I help you today?”

“You may not remember me. I am Richard, the teenager who bought the corsage and boutonniere for the prom four years ago. This is Carole. She was my prom date.”

“I have cherished the corsage since Richard gave it to me.”

“Ah. I knew I had met you before, Richard. You have grown.”

“What brings you here today?”

Carole blushed.

“I apologize for the short timeline, but Richard and I are getting married on the Fourth of July. We hope you can design a bouquet for me and a matching boutonniere for him.”

“Not a problem. What are your colors and themes for the event?”

“I will wear white adorned with crystals. Richard’s tuxedo will be light blue with a white tie and shirt.”

Sakura thought of designs for the couple.

They waited in silence, fearing disrupting her concentration.

After much thought, Sakura suggested a pure white rose with a variegated bud in pink and pale orange shades.

Lavender and pussy willows surrounded these.

Eucalyptus adds a vibrant backdrop of dark green.

Crystals encrusted white ribbons to complete the arrangement.

The couple agreed. It was flawless.

The boutonniere included a single white rosebud, a sprig of lavender, and a medium-sized eucalyptus branch.

The materials she used were silk and preserved specimens.

They become a permanent souvenir of their special day.

Having made their decisions, the couple left the Art of Bloom Florist.

Standing alone in her shop, Sakura smiled.

Another happy customer.

~*~

It was a Fall day that seldom occurred.

The day was perfect. The bright sun shone through a sparse sprinkling of clouds in the sky.

The rich, earthy smells of Autumn filled the air.

What a wonderful day to be alive!

Richard and Carole stopped in front of the door.

The couple was ecstatic and stood with their hands entwined. This helped to steady the trembling.

The familiar sign defined where they were:

Art of Bloom Florist, Sakura Sato Ito, Proprietor

They pushed the door open.

The tinkling silver bell in front of the door greeted Richard and Carole.

Sakura came out of her workshop at the back of her store.

As she approached the couple, she recognized Richard and Carole.

She beamed and hurried across the store.

“Richard. Carole. Welcome back. How are you? How may I help you?”

“Carole and I are here today because we have a new baby. She is Sophie, and we want to welcome her to our home.”

“She is a tiny fawn-colored deer Chihuahua. We cannot have human children, so we adopted her.”

“Please use your genius to create something spectacular for her.”

Sakura knew Richard and Carole wanted a permanent reminder of the joyous occasion.

She chose a large bronze vase.

Sakura placed two giant smiling sunflowers surrounded by orange tulips into the cylinder.

Four tall pussywillow branches stood guard over the other elements. They added the balancing white missing in the work.

Southern Smilax draped with grace over the vase. The green stood out against the bronze container.

Carole and Richard picked up their order.

It exceeded their expectations.

They hurried home to share the work of art with Sophie.

Sakura stood alone, looking around her shop.

Another happy customer.

~*~

It was a Winter day that seldom occurred.

The day was perfect. The bright sun shone through a sky filled with snow clouds.

The sweet fragrance of the crispy snow perfumed the air.

What a wonderful day to be alive!

Richard and Carole were inconsolable.

Sophie, their precious Chihuahua, was gone.

For the past fifteen years, she was a treasured family member.

The veterinarian explained in quiet tones.

“The cancer treatments did not work. There is nothing else to try.”

“I cannot predict how long Sophie may cling to life.”

“She does not want to leave you. It is the only thing keeping her alive.”

“This is a poor quality of life.”

“Sophie is in agony.”

“It is time to say goodbye. Show Sophie your love by letting her go.”

Richard and Carole sat with Sophie. They petted her, reminisced on happier times, and told her how much she meant to them.

They asked her to wait for them at Rainbow Bridge.

It broke their hearts when she breathed her last breath, but she was at peace.

Richard and Carole stood in front of the door.

In silence, Richard read the sign as they had on every significant event in their lives:

Art of Bloom Florist, Sakura Sato Ito, Proprietor

Their hearts were heavy with grief and guilt.

They entered the florist shop with their hands clasped together.

Holding hands comforted them and helped to steady the shaking.

They pushed open the door to the familiar tinkling of the silver bell.

Sakura exited the workshop.

She recognized Richard and Carole. She knew they were in mourning.

The florist, their friend, drew them to her chest and cried with them.

A cloud of compassion enveloped Richard and Carole.

Richard tried to regain his composure.

He shared with Sakura they needed the arrangement to place beside their beloved Sophie’s urn in its place of honor in the curio cabinet.

The front of the store created a soothing environment.

The emotional events of the day left them drained.

The couple waited for the florist in the soothing cocoon of her front room. Looking without seeing, they stared straight at the floor amid the various designs Sakura placed for displays.

Sakura gathered her materials.

Her thoughts centered on the couple waiting in the shop’s front.

She considered making a quick small floral arrangement in a vase.

This offering has a short period fading after seventy-two hours or fewer.

Their sense of loss may increase watching the cut flowers in the vase “die.”

Sakura created a permanent arrangement using silk flowers and dried branches in the Ikebana method.

Ikebana is a Japanese art of flower arrangement that emphasizes harmony between the human and natural worlds.

A small, delicate, black bowl-shaped container served as the substructure for the compact design.

The centerpiece of the bouquet was a single flawless red rose surrounded by yellow chrysanthemums.

As a finishing touch, Sakura added kiwi branches.

The fabrics and hues were ideal for their first period of grief---mourning.

Sakura’s artistic arrangement’s serene elegance carried over without effort into the healing stage of the grieving phase.

Sakura returned to the waiting couple carrying her artistic creation.

Richard and Carole agreed it was perfect.

They walked over to the counter to pay for the memorial Sakura had created.

“No, no. There is no charge for this. It is a gift to you: from my heart to yours.”

The trio embraced one more time. Richard and Carole left, clutching the remembrance against their shattered hearts.

Sakura stood alone in her shop.

Tears streamed along her face.

Her jet hair was now salt-and-pepper, but her bright eyes still shone.

Depleted: This last sorrowful arrangement overshadowed a lifetime of joy she provided to her customers.

They were not happy customers.

Their hearts remained broken.

~*~

It was a day unlike any other.

Torrential rain poured, bouncing off the mourners’ umbrellas.

The endless line of grieving people dressed in black walked behind the casket on its way to the Buddhist temple.

The sign on the door was gone. The tinkling bell was gone. The bright, artistic Proprietor was gone.

She requested to be cremated.

Next Spring, our Sakura asked for her ashes to be scattered in the wind during Sakura, The Festival of the Cherry Blossoms.

Her indomitable spirit becomes one with the Universe.