Flowers for his funeral

      On the Tuesday before Valentine's Day, I was out attempting to order flowers.  Not for any happy occasion though.  I was searching for the perfect flowers for my Jake's funeral. I first went to the florist here in my hometown.  The ladies tried to be nice and helpful.  I was just not liking what they were showing me.  The flowers they had to display were droopy and lacking color appeal.  I wanted his arrangements to include blue Hydrangeas and white Roses.  The ladies at this florist dashed all of my wants, telling me that hydrangeas wouldn't last... they would wilt too fast and they weren't willing to budge on what I wanted.  They brought me ugly yellow daisies that I didn't want and were trying to add white carnations as well... neither of which I asked for..  I was in tears, thinking this would be all I had to choose from.  Finally, we made the decision to leave and see what other florists in the area could offer.


        At the second florist, the owner was so very friendly and didn't mind showing me every single book with casket sprays and stand up arrangements she had.  She had beautiful flowers to display and even called the flower wholesaler she uses while I was there to ensure she received the flowers of highest quality for Jake's funeral.  The sweet florist, whose name is Janae, also agreed to put little stuffed animals into the arrangements if we brought them to her, along with the baby print ribbon I told her I would like.  I left feeling elated.

        Shopping for the ribbon and animals for these arrangements was hard work emotionally.  I had been out of the hospital two days and was having to do things I had never dreamed of.  First, I traveled to our local Hobby Lobby to look for baby ribbon that most people would include in a standard baby mum, this made me teary eyed... so I was walking with tears in my eyes... when I came face to face with the ex-wife of my brother in law, who gave me ugly looks from where she was busy stocking ribbon on the shelves, even when I tried to smile through my tears.  I turned around and left the store, nothing was worth being made to feel like I shouldn't be in a store, especially when I was looking for my son's funeral.  I next went to Michael's and escaped the ugly looks and found some ribbon with tiny blue baby feet and also a solid baby blue ribbon.  These were perfect and I was again on my way.  The next day, it was time to shop for the animals.  We tried several department stores with to no avail.  Finally , we ended up at trusty Wal-Mart.  My son and I had to face the baby section.  HORRIBLE TORTURE that was.  There's nothing like going to look for cute baby animals three days after losing your baby, and knowing the animals you are purchasing are for your son's arrangements at his funeral.  We ended up purchasing two that day... my son wanted to buy the giraffe... I wanted the elephant. : ) They went great with the flowers we had chosen.

          Janae went above and beyond her call of duty, going in to her shop early in the morning so that she could complete the blue heart arrangement i ordered with Hydrangeas.  This was so that they would look their best on the day of his funeral.  She will never know how grateful I am for her.  After the arrangements were complete, she rushed them to the funeral home, so they could be delivered to the cemetary in time for Jacob's graveside service. My heart still smiles to this day when I think of all she and her floral shop did for me in a time of great grief and heartache.

          These are the flowers from Jake's funeral.  I wanted them to be original.  My son was original and deserved better than droopy flowers and generic sprays that could have been made for anyone.  I left knowing that what we had ordered would be perfect.

I loved the sweet blue bows in his spray

Blue hydrangeas with white Stargazer lilys

The spray of yellow and white daisies my sister, brother in law and niece ordered for Jake's service

This beautiful arrangement was ordered by Jake's Great Grandmother <3

This arrangement was ordered by Jake's Great Grandmother Nancy

This arrangement was ordered by my former co-workers at the District Clerk's Office

This sweet arrangement was ordered by a good friend of my mother