My feet hurt!  I just spent the last week standing on my feet working Mother’s Day at the flower shop.  I hadn’t done that in over 30 years but my friend that runs the shop decided I should try again.  Thanks Pat – I think.  And since I was one of the younger women working there I had nothing to gripe about.  By the end of the week, we were all so tired we were stupid, and my feet may never be the same again.

I’ve spent most of my working life at a desk with my hips spreading and my feet shriveling.  They aren’t used to so much time on the ground holding up my weight.  My feet are old, have bunions from high heels and neuromas from – something.  Thank goodness I could at least wear my jeans and tennis shoes.  But even tennis shoes could not make my feet feel good at the end of a ten-hour shift eating lunch at the counter as I worked.  The only time I sat down was in the bathroom!

I’ll admit I’m hard-headed.  I like to prove that I can still do what I used to do when I was young.  I was a florist once and remember Valentine’s and Mother’s Days.  They were grueling.  This week there were about ten of us working – some to deliver, some to design the flower arrangements, some to answer the phone, some to blow up countless balloons, and some to work the floor selling our wares once we created them.  We had a refrigerated tractor-trailer backed up at the door running constantly as a backup refrigerator to keep the flowers fresh since our coolers were overflowing.

The tiny shop is attached to a large grocery store so it provides one-stop shopping.  I have never seen such hard working people as those in the grocery store stocking shelves, checking patrons, filling deli trays and always with a smile.  I had never been in the back of a grocery store before but here you shop for Mom’s flowers, candy, cake and dinner.  And shop they did.  Everything from a bud vase to a vase of two dozen roses – we sold them all. We also had tons of plants for the gardening mothers who would prefer growing flowers over cut ones.  And then there were the corsages.  I have no idea how much money was made but hopefully we made some mothers happy.

Well, I did it even though I am not sure why – it wasn’t for the money.  It was tiring but fun and I found I still had an artistic side.  I have no plans for tomorrow except to see if my hammock still fits me.