The standard gift for any
celebration-worthy event is a bouquet of flowers. Alisha Gordner, a flower-shop
worker and writer, discusses the relationship between her and her customers. In
her article, “One Bouquet of Fleeting Beauty, Please,” Alisha Gordner shares
personal anecdotes and an emotion-packed conclusive sentence to force her
readers to recognize the silver lining in the fleeting cloud of impermanence.
Gordner begins by telling her
readers about some of the amazing people she has met and the messages they
attach to the bouquets they buy. She asserts that she would “scoff at messages
that seemed too sugary, trite or boring” but still recognizes the significance
of “the gesture,” because when her boyfriend committed suicide, “people sent
cards.” This woeful tale adds to the credibility of her message by showing she
has experience with these things. It also appeals to pathos by allowing her
readers to feel sympathy for her, which will make her message stick in their
minds because her story will stick there, too. The story of her experience in
losing her boyfriend shows her message in action. She shares many “precious
moments made all the more precious by the fact that they have already come and
gone” and acknowledges that there are memories that have blurred over time. She
justifies the fading of these memories by recognizing that “there would always
be more,” ultimately showing her readers how extremely natural change is. In
the conclusion of her article, Gordner shares her favorite flower, the “tulip
magnolia,” which only blooms for “a matter of weeks.” A woman who works with
flowers chooses a flower with a fleeting presence as her favorite. This sentiment
effectively concludes her argument and shows her readers “how startlingly
beautiful impermanence can be.”
Overall, Gordner’s strong conclusive
sentence and personal anecdotes effectively show her readers the perfection in
impermanence. Gordner’s message should remain in our minds, too. We often dwell
on the details and try to memorize our memories, when in reality we should be
looking forward to the details that are yet to come. Oh, there is so much to
look forward to, we just don’t know the exact details of it all… and maybe we
never will… and that is OK.
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