Valentine's Day can be a rough holiday to celebrate on your own. For some of us, it's yet another reminder that we are eternally single. (Thanks, Universe.) For others, it might bring back memories of a messy divorce or a breakup we'd like to forget.
But for those who have lost a partner and are still grieving their absence, the annual day of love can be especially painful. For the past two years, that's something one North Carolina florist is trying to fix — one stunning bouquet at a time.
Just like most of us, Ashley Manning vowed to start a "pandemic hobby" in early 2020.
Except unlike most of us, she actually stuck with it.
"I started working with flowers in COVID as a little break from the kids," Ashley recently told People.
As a busy mom of four, she didn't exactly have a ton of extra time on her hands. But somehow, she made it work.
"I thought that if I made enough money to pay for a sitter while I worked, it would be worth it," she explained.
Fast-forward two years and hundreds of floral arrangements later, and it looks like she was right.
Turns out, Ashley had a knack for making pretty things.
And that's why she launched her own company, aptly named Pretty Things by A.E. Manning, just a few months after she got started.
By then, the self-taught florist was already selling floral arrangements faster than she ever imagined possible, as word spread through close friends and family about her gorgeous creations. In fact, before she knew it, Ashley had already converted two rooms of her house into a florist studio so she could keep up with all the orders.
Ashley says she feels she owes a large part of her success to other women.
After all, her friends were the ones who believed in her right from the start, happily buying her first bouquets and spreading the word to others, who soon started booking her for events.
So, it wasn't long before Ashley felt a strong urge to "pay it forward" in some way.
Eventually, that tiny inner voice pointed her in one particular direction.
Ashley knew that her son's teacher, Kathy Evans, had lost her husband several years earlier. As she later told People, Kathy's husband, Bob Gore, was just 53 when he died from cancer in 2015.
The loss was deep and devastating, and Ashley couldn't help but think of the pain that Kathy must carry with her each day — just like so many other widows do all over the world.
"I could see in her eyes she was so sad," Ashley shared, of the first time the teacher told her about her loss.
So, ahead of Valentine's Day 2021, Ashley decided to surprise Kathy with a gorgeous bouquet.
The school teacher was inevitably touched by the kind gesture, but was also struck by the fact that Ashley somehow knew exactly what she needed, when she needed it.
According to Kathy, Valentine's Day is actually "the hardest holiday" of the year since losing her husband.
"My husband died on March 3, and I didn't think I was going to get a valentine that year because he was so sick," she explaned, "but he ended up giving me a beautiful card and pendant."
Each Valentine's Day since just wasn't the same, and for several years, Kathy quietly grieved instead of celebrating.
"When you're 53 and you've been with someone for 33 years, your future goes black," Kathy told People. "We had plans to travel, take dance lessons, retire … he was my rock. It was hard being that young and losing him, so to receive flowers on Valentine's Day was so special."
But thanks to Ashley, the cloud of sadness brought by Valentine's Day finally lifted — and Kathy couldn't be more grateful for it.
Ashley says Kathy later penned a heartfelt thank-you note.
In it, she gushed "about how much the flowers had meant to her," Ashley shared, recalling just how grateful Kathy sounded in the the letter.
And that's when it hit her …
"It just sparked the idea to reach out to more widows," said Ashley, who then shared the idea on Instagram and asked followers to send the names and information of other local widows who might appreciate a special Valentine's Day bouquet.
All together, Ashley's community nominated more than 120 widows to receive a bouquet.
But to make that happen quickly, she needed to bring in some backup. And luckily, the people of Charlotte, North Carolina, were more than happy to help.
Before she knew it, Ashley had a team of volunteers helping her assemble the bouquets. In addition, several local businesses donated things like wine, jewelry, and other gift items, which were then packaged nicely in a gift bag.
Then, Ashley and her volunteers went door to door hand-delivering the care packages.
"I took my three oldest kids to deliver a bouquet to our elderly neighbor down the street last year," she said of one particular drop-off. "We really didn't interact with her much, but we knew she was a widow."
"When she opened the door and saw the flowers, she said, 'I think I'm gonna cry.'"
Ashley later received several thank-you notes that nearly made her cry, as well.
"Valentine's Day had not been my favorite day," wrote one recipient. "I especially miss my husband, and it was lovely to be celebrated by your team. Your sweetness felt as if it were a gift from heaven, from my husband Joe. To get the flowers felt like it came from him."
In the end, the entire project went as smoothly as Ashley could have hoped.
And this year, she's planning to do it again for a whole new batch of women. The only difference? This time, she has more than 350 orders for local widows (most of whom are being given as anonymous gifts from friends or loved ones), and 150 volunteers to help make it all happen in time for Valentine's Day.
She also has a name for the project, which has quickly become something of a local movement: the Valentine's Day Widow Outreach.
"It's our mission to take care of each other," Ashley said of the initiative. "And on that day, those women need to be taken care of."
Source: cafemom.com
