Should be Day 209.
Andy's father had been in his upstairs den when he heard Andy explaining the soup he had made. His son's act of kindness touched him.
"Andy had a good idea. I should be doing something special for Trudy."
On his way home from work, Andy's father stopped by a floral shop. "Do you have a special arrangement for people who are sick?" he asked the store clerk.
"Certainly, right this way." The gentleman led him to a booth set up towards the back of the store. "I hope it's nothing serious."
"No, my wife has a cold, and I thought I would bring her home some flowers to cheer her up."
"What a nice idea! Your wife is lucky to have such a devoted husband."
"I just wanted to do something to make her smile."
That conversation stayed in the store clerk's head for the rest of the afternoon. Working in a flower shop, you'd think that Barry would give flowers to several people in his life for all sorts of occasions. Actually, he had never really thought about giving people flowers before (besides his girlfriend). Working at the flower shop was just a job to him. He was touched by the husband's motives and was reminded of why his boss felt working in a flower shop was so important.
"Barry," he had said when Barry had first started working there, "Flowers tell a secret language. They express feelings of the heart. The sight and smell of these colorful plants can bring comfort and brighten anyone's day. And we have the honor of helping them. Never be ashamed of working here."
His next door neighbor had recently come back in town after helping her sister in Kansas City. There had been a death in the family, and although Barry didn't know all the details, he could tell that she must have been exhausted with commuting between her job and her family back home. Getting a bouquet of flowers would be a nice surprise for her.
Madelin was rapidly typing out an email to one of her clients when her doorbell had rung.
"Ugh, who can that be?" She finished typing her sentence and rolled away from her desk to answer the door.
No one was there, but a bouquet of daisies, roses, and hyacinths was gently spread out on her doorstep. The note read, "Take some time out of your busy day to smell the flowers. Hope this gift finds you well. From, your neighbor."
Madelin buried her face in the bouquet and closed her eyes as she deeply inhaled. The light scent filled her lungs and spread some joy to her heart.
"What a wonderful thing for someone to do for me!"
She gingerly tacked the card to her cork board in her office. Years later she would tell the story of that to the dozens of various people who came in. She would explain that right when her world was twisting upside down, a bouquet of flowers arrived anonymously at her door. It sounded silly, but the flowers gave her hope and reminded her that good still existed in the world. The next day, she was still so touched by the gift that she gave $5.00 to the homeless man that frequented the street her downtown office was located at.
Whoever heard Madelin's story were inspired to do good deeds as well, even a simple gesture like bringing home dessert for the family. One woman decided to volunteer to chaperone on a church field trip, even though she didn't feel comfortable around children. Frank, one of Madelin's colleagues, helped his next door neighbor rake her leaves because her arthritis prevented her from doing it. Frank's daughter Donna overheard him tell the whole story to his wife, and Donna was inspired to do something to help the whole neighborhood. She excitedly called her friends about her plan, and on Saturday, they walked through their neighborhoods, gathering trash and knocking on doors asking people if they needed help with anything. One of the chores Donna did was help set up a swing on a tree for a young boy named Andy to use.
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