White Cattleya Orchid

I have lived almost my entire life in this midwest city. The flower shop has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. As a very young child I can remember my father taking me and my siblings to school on his way to the shop. When he was ready to go he would stand at the door and yell, "All aboard"! That was his way of telling us to pile into the van which actually was the delivery van for the shop. There were no seats in it. We all sat on the floor amid the sandbags that were used to hold the arrangements into place and keep them from tipping over while in transit. There would always be a fight over how many sandbags each of us got to sit on, the more the better although if you piled up more than three invariably as my father rounded a corner you would lose your balance and topple over.

One of the earliest jobs that I got at the flower shop was making corsages for Mother's Day and Easter. Back in the day, corsages were a huge money maker for those holidays. Families would order corsages for each female in the house to wear to church at Easter and no self-respecting mother was without one for Mother's Day. I used to sit with several older women who had probably also been making corsages since they were young girls in the basement of the shop and make corsage after corsage. Many times, carnations were used, but the better corsages were made from orchids. Many people favored the smaller cymbidium orchid but the largest and most expensive corsages were made with the softball-size cattleya orchids. Now, these holidays come and go with few women receiving corsages to wear. I think it's kind of sad that corsages have been relegated to weddings and high school dances only.

These days the emphasis on corsages is small and dainty. No one wants to wear the mammoth cattleyas anymore. It takes a self-assured woman to pull one of the fantasy flowers off. We had a family friend who passed away recently. She was a nurse who had been sick for several years. She had a nurses cap in the casket with her and pinned to side of it was a beautiful white cattleya. The flower meaning behind orchids is delicate beauty. Orchids should not be only for special occasions. They should be given to celebrate the delicate beauty that we see in each other. Given the chance, we should show our friends and loved ones just how much they mean to us. Flowers are a perfect way to do that. Don't wait until it is too late.