Today is a big day for us in the shop. Hitomi Gilliam, our inspiration, mentor, teacher and floral designer extraordinaire is in Houston for the presentation, and we all have to be there. Today is a day were no designer is left behind in this little shop of ours.

Never believed I will be uttering words: "We are experiencing shortage of flowers", yet here we are.

Today is the first day we’ve been back to work after hurricane Harvey. Like most of the Houstonians we are excited to work again, but we are not the same as we were. Houston has suffered tremendous losses and we have all been impacted by it – some less and some more. It is however our imperative to rebuild our lives, to rebuild our homes, and rebuild our businesses. We need it, this town needs it.

It's not as if the idea of a pet funeral is anything new. They go back a very long time indeed. Not too long ago, a 25,000-year-old grave was unearthed that held the remains of  three dogs, all carefully positioned on their sides, one with a bone placed in its mouth. They were, from all indications, cherished companions -- not food. Though we can't describe what their funeral was like, there is no doubt these animals had been sent on their way with tears and love.