The first time I was given flowers…

This is a fictitious man who lives among a lot of men. This is the first time he has been given flowers.

“I had never gotten flowers before today. It was almost a strange experience, but one I had never had before. I almost didn’t know how to feel about them, nor did I know how to react at first. Decades have gone by, and I never expected I would be worthy of an act done with such compassion, gentleness, and care. One by one, I looked at them before me. So sweet and tender. As if they were just plucked from the cool, dark earth from which they were grown on a warm spring day. Nobody ever thought of me like this before. So why would they do it now? They seemed so sad when they gave me the flowers. Why be sad when it was the first time they gave me flowers? Shouldn’t this be a happy gesture? Before I knew what was happening, I found a smile on my face. So small and imperceptible to those who weren’t right in front of me, maybe not even to those standing before me. Yet it grew. Lines formed around my eyes, I was smiling so hard. Then I felt something fall. A tear down my cheek. Then another. Was I weeping? Why? They were just flowers after all. A lump in my throat caught me unaware. It snuck up on me, all at once, and it was here. Nobody could really see me. They probably only saw me now as still as stone. Who was I to be emotional? Was this some weird dream? I’ve never received flowers before. Yet here I am. They looked so beautiful, so delicate. I loved their color, their hue. It reminded me of the undemanding beauty of the earth from which I was born. The smell, so faint at first, and yet so sweet as it wafted in the air. The petals, I’m sure so soft, like silk to the touch. Why today of all days would I receive such a kind gift, flowers? Did everyone wait to only give me flowers on this day? Had no one thought I might like flowers from time to time in all those years already passed? Had no one imagined I might appreciate the gesture, regardless of whether I liked flowers or not? It's at least nice to be thought of. So why only today? Why, only on the final day that they would ever see me, my funeral, would they finally choose to give me flowers? I wish I could have been given a single flower once when I was alive. It would have been nice, just once.”

A lot of men go their entire lives without having been given flowers, save for the final day before they are laid to rest. Maybe a good number of them are used to being given something else. So many wouldn’t know how to react. Almost like having never been given a hug. Who would know how to respond? Yet the gesture, the kindness of giving flowers to a man, symbolizes a love and care for him that often gets overlooked. To say “I love you. I’m thinking about you” in an act such as this can mean so much. And yet, we wait until perhaps it’s too late.

Next post… “When to seek outside help for personal issues”