No one ever wants to think about a life without the ones we love. It’s scary to think about not being able to pick up the phone and hear their voice or to ever see their faces again. We’re not promised to be on this earth forever. No matter how hard we try to avoid the topic, it’s something that we have to at one point or another come to terms. Still, I work hard at not putting time limits on people. I purposely don’t remember how old someone is because I don’t like the thought of limiting someone’s time on this earth through age.
Last year, I received the news that we lost a long time member of our church. Her passing jolted me a bit as she’d been a significant presence in my church life from childhood until after I moved away permanently for work. As I processed her passing all I could think about was no longer being able to call my own Mother. The thought enveloped me in sheer terror. Even though we were miles apart from one another my Mom and I share a lot. I thought about our “morning commute” which was our ritual phone call every morning as I drove to work. I thought about our two member book club and all the books we’d yet to read and discuss. I thought about all the advice she offered and how she was one of my biggest cheerleaders. I couldn’t imagine a world without her and yet I knew it was inevitable.
In a conversation during one of our morning commutes my Mom wasn’t in the best of spirits. Her usual cheerful demeanor was low-spirited. She’d been dealing with back pain due to spinal stenosis that was negatively affecting her day to day, and was having what we like to call a “pity party.” As I listened to her frustrations I, in turn, became frustrated as all I could do was offer encouraging words. It was evident that she needed a pick me up. Something to bring her a small spark of joy.
After arriving at work, all I could think about was what she was going through and how my hands were tied with solutions other than waiting for surgery. After some thought, I decided to send her flowers. With all the flower delivery companies available I knew they’d get there that day and be a great surprise to help take her mind off of everything else.
The flowers turned out to be the pick me up I expected them to be. She loved them, and I could hear her smiling through the phone. Growing up one of the things you’d always catch the older folks say is that they wanted their flowers when they were alive and could enjoy them. This is what I want to do for my Mom, give her things that she could enjoy, not just on holidays, but on regular days too.
Flowers are relatively inexpensive, but with the frequency that I’d like to send them, I also want it to be cost-effective. One of my favorite ways to send flowers is through Ebates! If you haven’t heard of Ebates, it’s this amazing app and website that lets you shop at thousands of stores as you would normally, but earn cashback at the same time. Typically cashback on flowers can range from 10%-30% which equals great savings for me that I can use towards my next flower purchase. Right now Ebates is offering an additional $10 cash back to anyone who signs up and spends a minimum of $25.
Valentine’s Day is right around the corner and of course, I’ll be sending flowers through Ebates, but I’m also thinking of the next thing I can surprise her with. I recently asked her if she could go anywhere in the world where she would like to go. Her answer was Hawaii. My goal is to make that happen.
