12/11/2025
I love this , but especially
“ I take care of myself first “
We must all take this advice
“Ten years ago I met a professional flower girl. She was 24-years old. She was going through a tough time, so my husband and I tried to help her. We let her use this space. We laid out all the money: transportation, allowance, everything. I worked alongside her in the shop. But the flower girl, she always party. She took the $3,000 I gave her and disappeared. It’s OK. She was young, whatever. We were going to close the shop, but my husband said: ‘You are always happy when you are here, why don’t you run it yourself?’ So that’s what I did. I used to be a fashion designer, so I’m very good with color. I know composition naturally. And also-- everything I touch, it grows. People think it’s a miracle. It’s not a miracle. It’s just a matter of caring. When your customer authorizes you to do something, do the best you can offer. People are not dumb. They can see how much thought and time you put into your work. They can tell if you are like crocodile, doing as little as possible, trying to eat all the money you can. Look at all the shops up and down the street—you can see who puts their heart into it. Look at the plants in front of the store. If the plants are dying, the business is dying. It’s a matter of caring. You must care for everything around you. First, I take care of myself. That is most important. I’m seventy-one. If my muscles feel pain, I stop. I’ll do my stretching. Then I care for my husband. He’s a very good partner. Two years ago he had a stroke; he has some minor health things still. So I care for him. We adopted two little kitties. We make them delicious food like human food: turkey, chicken, fish. They grow very big. We take good care of them. Then we care for our friends, our customers, even our customer’s dogs. If you treat your customers’ dogs well, they will smell you and remember you. Everything is together: plants, animals, humans. If you care, you will grow. But not enough people care. It's not that they aren’t smart. It’s that they want to try everything, so they never care enough about any one thing. Too many choices. Me? This is my only choice. Come by anytime, I’m around.”
