Shawn Chamberlain was gardening at a hospice one day, when her heart broke just a little bit.
Typically at a hospice, the patients are very old. They've lived full lives, have had the time to experience the the wonders of life, and have had time to say goodbye.
On this day, Shawn noticed that one of the patients there was very young. She was a young mother leaving the world too soon.
Shawn didn't know what to do. What could anyone really say to a young mother who has accepted her fate? So she did something small: she gave the nurse a bouquet of flowers to give to the mother.
She told the nurse to tell the woman that someone was thinking about her. She expected nothing in return, not even a thank you. She did it because it was the right thing to do.
People who see an opportunity to give back and run with are the ones who change the world, like the little girl who grew a 40-pound cabbage as a homework assignment and then decided to give it to the hungry.
As a landscaper, Shawn noticed that people just love receiving flowers. In fact, a study conducted by Rutgers showed that 100 percent of people who received flowers at gifts were happier than when they received any other gift. In every case, the recipients responded to the flowers with what is known as the Duchenne smile — a heartfelt "true smile" involving the mouth, cheeks, and eyes; neither the candle nor the fruit elicited that kind of across-the-board positive response. And three days later, the flower recipients were still feeling happier than their cohorts in the study."
Now Shawn is turning trash into treasure by going to the place where flowers are often discarded: weddings. See how she is brightening people's lives with flowers below.
SHARE if you're glad she is choosing to spread joy!
