Give Them Their Flowers Now (#RRBC)

Many, many, many (many) years ago, there was a gospel song that I loved by the Rev. James Cleveland that said “Give me my flowers… right now. If you feel like I deserve anything, don’t wait ’til I’m dead and gone.  If I’ve been nice to you or done something to make you happy along the way, then give me my few  lil’ flowers now, so I can see the beauty that they bring.”

This song came to mind after I received an email this morning from one of my dear friends and fellow member of the RAVE REVIEWS BOOK CLUB.  Since this message was sent to me privately, I will not disclose who this member is, but because it was so beautiful and touched my heart so tremendously, I feel that I would be selfish to keep it all to myself.  (I have removed the name and other identifying info from this email, but if the party who gifted me with this treasure wishes to identify her/himself, please feel free to do so).

“Hi, Nonnie…I’m incredibly behind on everything, including my correspondence.  But I want to thank you for selecting my book for a seat in the #RRBC house.  It was such a surprise to open my mail & see that.  I was thrilled!  Also, I just saw today that my book was on your review page.  That was another surprise, and totally made my day.  I knew, of course, that you had read and reviewed the story, but I didn’t know that it had made it to your actual review page.  So now I can post your SEAL OF APPROVAL for my book on my own site.  Nonnie, I can’t begin to tell you what it means to me that you like my work.  It’s funny, but as I edit, I find myself asking “What would Nonnie do?” when I have a question about something.  I don’t think you realize the impact that you have on those of us who are trying to produce the best work possible.  Your presence in my life is a gift, and I don’t think I tell you enough how much you are appreciated.  *Hugs*”

To the wonderful soul who gifted me with this amazing present this morning, THANK YOU for giving me my flowers now…while I’m still alive to enjoy the beauty that they  bring.  The sunshine in my heart and the smile on my face, are reflective of my immense enjoyment of their beauty.

So many of you send me similar kind messages, and so much so, that I have had to create a FEEL GOOD FILE to store all your precious words of gratitude.  This THANK YOU is for all of you who have gifted me in this most precious way.

Many of you know that after our dear, sweet KATHRYN C. TREAT passed away, we named many of our programs, etc. in her name and in her honor.  There is a very special IN MEMORY OF…page on our site for her, our VIP Lounge is now named after her, and our treasure chest filled with our book giveaways is also named in her honor.

I wish that we had given Kathryn all these flowers while she was still here to enjoy their beauty, but I truly believe that she has a much better view of them from where she sits now.  Because of the beautiful legacy of love, kindness and support that Kathryn left behind, I will no longer wait to “gift” our deserving members with the flowers they so richly deserve, so that they may enjoy them while they are still here.

For this very reason, on yesterday, Saturday, Oct. 15, we changed the name of our TOP REVIEWER Award.  It is now The JOY NWOSU LO-BAMIJOKO “TOP REVIEWER” Award!  For those of you who are wondering why this award has been named in her honor, well, Joy was the first member of our club to purchase/read/review over 100+ books!  And, she did it in record time!  Joy, we hope you will enjoy these flowers while you are still here, because your legacy will also be a great one and one that we will never forget!

As I wrap this up, I ask that if you have someone in your life or someone that you appreciate immensely for just being them, show your gratitude by gifting them with their flowers today. Don’t wait until they’re dead and in some cold grave. Those flowers could come in the form of a phone call, an ecard, an email, or even a little text message.  These cost you nothing.  I assure you they’ll derive more pleasure from them now than they could ever get from them sitting atop a casket in a sad funeral home.

Do you have someone that you need to give flowers to today?  If so, share it with us in the comments section below.

• Posted in: Uncategorized
• Tagged: casket, flowers, funeral home, gospel song, gratitude, James Cleveland, Kathryn C. Treat, Nonnie Jules