Florists add much needed color to seniors' lives in dark times

SAN RAMON, Calif. - With the Coronavirus draining much of the joy and color from the world these days, a small group of florists in San Ramon are trying to put some of it back, for people who perhaps need it most--those who are tucked away in senior care homes.

"They are just there scared. No visitors. I just want to give them some flowers to make them happy," said Sharon Enea, owner of the Enchanted Florist.

The staff was creating about 50 bouquets Tuesday morning.
While the vases and some of the flowers are donated, the owner is doing much of this out of her pocket.

That is not easy, considering her business has plummeted by about 60 percent during the pandemic.

"Doing this is making it worse. But it doesn't matter. It is not about money. It's about what we need to make people happy. And we need to bring joy because we are all in the middle of this horrible disease," she said.

Once the bouquets were complete, the flower arrangers loaded them up and took them to Danville Post-Acute Rehab.

The idea came after the death of Enea's father-in-law, whose last days were spent in a facility, where no one was allowed to visit him.

Since then she's brought flowers to more than 300 seniors.

"I just felt so bad for the people that were in the care home he was in. And they couldn't see any of their family members," she said.
Later in the day, the florists whipped up another 50 bouquets and took them to Sunrise of Danville, an assisted living facility.

"This is a lovely token for them to understand there are people out there thinking of them," said Kirsten Korfhage, executive director of Sunrise.

The flower shop owner says she will keep doing this for as long as the pandemic lasts.

"I'm very very glad I am making people happy. That's my goal in life," said Enea.