Author Maureen Johnson makes a living out of telling stories. As a young adult fiction writer who creates worlds of mystery and suspense in her books, Johnson loves a narrative with some twists and turns. Now, she has her own mysterious true story with a happy ending that involves her mom and a floral delivery with a little something extra.
Johnson shared the story with her followers on Twitter. The 47-year-old author wove the tale like a skilled craftsman, starting with a surprising phone call from her mother and a cliffhanger ending to the first chapter. What started out as a simple flower delivery that should have simply been dropped off at the door suddenly developed into something more.
My mother just called me. She had ordered some flowers from a small local store, to be delivered and dropped on the porch. When they brought the flowers, they said, "Hang on, we have something for you." The driver went back to the truck and proceeded to bring out…
— Maureen Johnson (@maureenjohnson) April 29, 2020
Apparently, when Johnson’s mom ordered the flowers for herself from Castle’s Garden, Lawn and Landscape Inc. in Pennsylvania, she mentioned to the person on the other end of the phone that she promised her daughter she would stay home to stay protected from the coronavirus outbreak. That’s when the typical delivery story took a turn to the unexpected.
When the delivery workers arrived, they weren’t only carrying flowers. They had hot meals and bags of groceries for Johnson’s mom. Needless to say, she was a bit confused, since she only ordered the flowers and not a food delivery. The workers, though, were ready for the question.
…a bag of hot meals, and then MULTIPLE bags of groceries. My mom was speechless and asked why. They said, “When you called, you mentioned you had promised your daughter not to go out, so we were worried you had no food and brought some.”…
— Maureen Johnson (@maureenjohnson) April 29, 2020
The folks at the garden center thought their customer was stuck at home without the means to get food and took it upon themselves to bring some, no questions asked, and no payment expected. In fact, Johnson said the delivery drivers insisted they were a gift and refused to take any extra money.
…my parents have plenty of food. I’ve set up weekly deliveries. But this small business wanted to make sure. And they refused–REFUSED–payment for it. So I would like to shout out this business to the rooftops…
— Maureen Johnson (@maureenjohnson) April 29, 2020
When Johnson shared this story and identified the local floral shop, it went viral. The initial tweet has been liked more than 131,000 times since April 29.
Soon, people from all over started reaching out to the small company on its Facebook page. Eventually, the shop’s owners shared their own post about how grateful they were for the opportunity to help a fellow community member.
“We don’t do this for recognition and are overwhelmed with gratitude by your response,” they posted. “Please take this opportunity to pay it forward and not only support your local businesses but be kind to your neighbors. It is a community effort.”
Johnson, meanwhile, called the small business owners “amazing people” while linking to their website for her followers, of which there are more than 149,000. It’s tough to agree with that opinion after hearing this story!
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Checkout Simplemost for additional stories.
