Every Christmas morning after the mad unwrapping was over, my mother presented my grandmother with her annual Christmas corsage. It always came in a snow-white florist box with a clear plastic cover. We were lucky in that we had a flower shop right on the street where we lived. I don't remember running that errand for my mother but I do know my grandmother's corsage, a gift from her only child, was sacrosanct.
The image of this young miss melted my heart. Her age, her purity and the simple pleasure of selecting the most perfect corsage to pin on her wool coat no doubt had her imagining the young lady who would soon be looking back at her from the glass. It also reminded me of the corsages we made in school as well as the brightly crafted dime-store variety that could be bought all over town. They never rivaled the beauty my grandmother pinned on each Christmas morning but they were every bit as expressive in their intent.
Christmas and flowers just seem to go together - the poinsettia, the rose and the astonishing Star of Bethlehem - all connote the deeper significance of the nativity. I say we bring the Christmas corsage back...for all the right reasons.
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