Like many people this Father’s Day weekend, I’ve been thinking about my dad and all the ways he influenced my life.

When I was in high school, he’d occasionally bring me along to trade shows. I wasn’t there to do much of anything. Mostly, I watched. I saw how he greeted vendors, treated customers, and built relationships over time.

He never sat me down to explain the importance of trust or treating people well. He just lived those values every day. Looking back, I realize how much I learned from those trips, and I wish he were here to see how much I’ve relied on those lessons.

Every father has his own way of passing along wisdom. Some offer advice directly. Others teach through example. Most do a little of both. Father’s Day gives us a reason not only to celebrate our dads but also reflect on the gifts they gave us.

A few weeks ago, I invited the Celebrations Pulse community to share stories about their Amazing Dads. The response was overwhelming. Nearly all the stories focused on the lessons and values that continue to shape people years – even decades – later.

The styles of fatherhood

Some fathers teach through words. Others teach through example.

Rochelle’s father was in his 20s, newly out of the military and raising three children under four when his wife walked away. He didn’t leave. He changed careers and spent the next four decades working his way up from janitor to a senior position at the same company. Rochelle wrote:

“He taught me so much without having to say a word. He is not a perfect person, nor did he live a perfect life — but I know so many others walk away or give up. He kept going.”

Kit’s father taught in a different way. While she was away at college, envelopes would arrive containing nothing more than a clipped newspaper comic, sometimes accompanied by a hand-drawn smiley face. She taped them above her dorm-room desk. The ritual continued for years.

The comics were a reminder that someone was thinking about her and a lesson in carrying a sense of humor through life’s challenges.

“My dad has been gone over 15 years now,” she wrote, “but many of our shared rituals hold a strong color in my heart.”

A steady presence

The lessons people remember most often come from a dad’s steady presence. In the routines of daily life, fathers model values, character, and resilience in ways that endure for years.

Eileen grew up in a household facing financial and emotional strain. Her father traveled often, and life at home wasn’t always easy. But when he was there, she wrote, “I had a friend.”

He never raised his voice or his hand. He simply remained himself —patient and kind — despite circumstances that might have justified something less.

“He showed me that you don’t have to let your circumstances determine who you are.”

That story reminded me of something Larry Long Jr. shared in this week’s Power & Impact. As a struggling freshman baseball player at the University of Maryland, Larry found himself questioning whether he belonged.

After a difficult start, his father challenged him: “With an attitude like that, how can you expect to succeed?” He urged Larry to work harder on his skills, but more importantly, on his mindset. Larry credits that conversation with changing the course of his life.

The faces of fatherhood

Many readers also reminded me that Father’s Day isn’t just about biological fathers. Grandfathers, stepfathers, coaches, mentors, and family friends often leave the same kind of lasting imprint.

Marsha was six or seven years old when she began spending weekends with her grandfather, a pastor who traveled across Indiana preaching and teaching. What she remembers most are the walks through his garden — zinnias, canna lilies, four o’clocks, and morning glories — while she followed behind and watched.

Her grandfather died in 1965, when she was 14. Nearly 60 years later, she grows those same flowers in her New Mexico garden.

“Every time I see them, I think of him and his gentle spirit,” she wrote. “A generally quiet man, his presence and his guidance spoke of his love and deep care for me, so much louder than any words he ever uttered.”

The lessons we carry with us

Some of the most moving letters came from readers reflecting on fathers who are no longer here. They serve as a reminder to those who still have their fathers to reach out and connect while there’s still time.

Barbara’s father served in the Navy and later worked at NASA during the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and Space Shuttle programs. He witnessed some of the most remarkable moments of the 20th century.

Barbara knows the broad outlines of that story. What she wishes she had now are the details. What first drew him to aviation? What did he think when he heard about Pearl Harbor? What was it like to help advance human exploration?

“Stories ... why, oh, why didn’t I get more stories out of my dad when he was alive?” she wrote. “A quiet man, he would have had to have been prompted ... a lot!”

The Father’s Day opportunity

If your father is still here, consider this your opening. Ask him something you don’t know the answer to. Find out what he was thinking during the moments you remember differently, or the ones you were too young to understand at the time.

And if your father has passed away, the opportunity is different but just as meaningful: Share one of his stories, pass along one of his lessons, and keep something he taught you alive in another person.

That’s what Amazing Dads have always done. This Father’s Day, we have the opportunity to do the same.

All the best,
Jim

Written by 1-800-Flowers.com Founder and Chairman, the Celebrations Pulse letters aim to engage with our community. By welcoming your ideas and sharing your stories, we want to help you strengthen your relationships with the most important people in your life.

Moments after the New York Knicks won the NBA Finals and Jalen Brunson was named MVP, television cameras captured him embracing his father, Rick. It lasted only a few seconds, but the hug spoke volumes.

In that hug, you could see years of encouragement, sacrifice, guidance, and belief. You could see the pride of a father watching his son reach the highest level of his profession and the gratitude of a son who knew he hadn’t gotten there alone.

Most fathers never find themselves celebrating an NBA championship, but the emotions on display were instantly recognizable. Fathers help shape who we become, often through thousands of small moments that seem ordinary at the time.

Watching the Brunsons celebrate was a reminder that one of the greatest rewards of fatherhood is seeing those lessons take root and flourish. That’s a legacy worth celebrating this Father’s Day.

While I deeply regret that my father passed away before seeing what this business would become, I’m grateful that he saw its beginning.

When I opened my first flower shop in 1976, my dad was still working as a painting contractor. As the shop took off, I had to negotiate with him to borrow my brother, Chris, to help out. Years later, Chris would become our CEO, so I’d say those negotiations paid off.

But my dad couldn’t stay away for long. Every holiday season, he’d show up at our Bayside store and take over the back room.

We didn’t ask him to. He didn’t have to. But my dad knew every street grid in the city. During the holidays, when the trucks were loaded and panicked drivers were lined up, that knowledge was our secret weapon. He became our unofficial dispatcher-in-chief.

This was decades before GPS or Waze. He relied entirely on paper Hagstrom maps and sheer instinct. He routed drivers across the city with the confidence that only comes from knowing a place in your bones.

He refused to take a single dime of pay. He came because his family was there, everyone was working, and there was a problem he knew how to solve. That was enough for him.

Many years ago, a World War II veteran reached out with an unusual request. Before leaving for the war, he had fallen for a young woman in his hometown. Life took them in different directions. They married other people, raised families, and built lives of their own.

Decades later, after losing his wife, he called us with a question: Could we help him find her?

A customer service supervisor took up the challenge, and it wasn’t easy. This was long before records were digitized and stored in searchable databases. But with persistence and the tools available at the time, the team eventually tracked her down.

The veteran sent her a pink corsage, a duplicate of the one she had worn to their high school prom so many years ago. The note read: “If you're the Mary Anne I left in '41, I'd sure like to get caught up with you.”

The two reconnected, and before long, they were planning a wedding.

We were honored to provide the flowers.

Our best days are the ones when we're invited into life's biggest moments. Sometimes that's a wedding planned for a year. Sometimes it's a love story that took half a century to find its way back. Either way, it's a reminder of why we do what we do.

Earlier this month, I had the privilege of speaking at NYU Langone Hospital — Long Island’s 130th anniversary celebration, a milestone that prompted me to reflect on the people who helped build this remarkable institution.

When Nassau Hospital first opened its doors in 1896, its founders couldn’t possibly have imagined today's medical breakthroughs or the hundreds of thousands of patients who would be served over the decades to come. Yet they made investments that would benefit future generations they would never meet.

As a member of NYU Langone’s Board of Overseers, I've come to appreciate that every chapter in its history was shaped by people who thought beyond themselves. Community leaders, donors, physicians, nurses, and staff made decisions because they believed Long Island deserved access to the best possible care.

Their efforts created opportunities and outcomes that continue to improve lives more than a century later.

It’s a reminder that many of the most meaningful things we do in life work the same way. We plant trees whose shade we'll never sit under. We create rituals our grandchildren may one day carry forward. We build businesses and communities that can serve people long after we're gone.

In a world fixated on immediate results, there's something worth holding onto: lasting impact isn’t measured only by what we accomplish today, but by what we make possible for tomorrow.

Over the past 50 years, wedding fashions have changed, venues have come and gone, and traditions have evolved. Yet the importance of the day has remained remarkably constant.

People still gather to celebrate a commitment, share a meal, tell stories, and create memories with the people they love. Helping them do that has always been one of the great privileges of being in the relationship business.

I remember one wedding in the early days of the flower shop that took place in an apartment overlooking the East River. The bride's parents were involved in every detail. At one point, we tucked tiny pink roses and baby's breath into a large conch shell displayed in a bathroom. It was a small touch, and the family loved it.

Other times, the job wasn’t so easy.

One of the first Jewish weddings we worked on required us to build a chuppah for the ceremony. We spent hours creating it, only to discover it had been assembled in the wrong location. We carefully took it apart, moved it across the venue, and rebuilt it from scratch.

Then, just before the ceremony, a ceiling panel above the chuppah was opened to reveal the sky. Unfortunately, it also released water that had been trapped in the ceiling. It poured down onto the structure we had spent the day rebuilding.

Looking back, I don't remember the frustration nearly as much as I remember what those weddings taught me. On a day that means so much to a family, every detail matters. It might be an elaborate floral installation or a few roses tucked into a conch shell.

When I think back to the weddings I've attended over the years, a few things come to mind: the joy of the couple, the energy of the reception, and a blend of old and new rituals that always seem to anchor the day.

There's usually a first dance, followed by a toast that leaves half the room laughing and the other half reaching for a tissue. More often than not, a family tradition makes an appearance, carried on by people who may not know where it started but know it belongs.

While the couple is naturally at the center of the occasion, every wedding creates a larger circle around them. People arrive from different parts of the couple’s life and, for a few hours, become part of the same celebration.

As summer wedding season gets underway, I've been thinking about why these occasions hold such a special place in our lives. They remind us of the importance of ritual and the joy that comes from gathering and creating memories with other people.

A Reason to Come Together

In a world where getting everyone in the same place isn't easy, weddings still manage to make it happen. People clear their schedules and travel long distances because they understand the significance of the occasion.

The ceremony may bring everyone into the room, but the reception is often where much of the magic happens. That's the beauty of a wedding: it celebrates one relationship while strengthening many others.

For a few hours, everyday routines give way to unhurried time together. People reminisce, celebrate, dance, and reconnect. Family bonds deepen, and friendships are created or renewed. Every now and then, a new romance blossoms.

Roughly 2.2 million weddings take place in the United States each year, with nearly three-quarters occurring between June and early October, making summer and early fall the heart of wedding season.

That means there's a good chance you've got an invitation sitting on your counter right now. If you're debating whether to go, I'd encourage you to do what the bride and groom did and say yes. Few occasions offer so many opportunities to use your power of connection in a single day.

Rooted in Rituals

The relationships celebrated at a wedding may be new, though much of the day is rooted in something old.

Every wedding carries a blend of familiar customs and family-specific traditions. The walk down the aisle, the first dance, the wedding cake, the bouquet toss, and the story someone always tells all give the occasion a personal and timeless rhythm.

Most of us don't stop to think about where these traditions began. Their origins matter less than the meaning they acquire over time. A simple ritual becomes powerful because it links one generation to the next and reminds everyone in the room that this new chapter is part of a much longer story.

That continuity is part of what makes weddings so moving and helps explain why they're remembered long after the day is over. They give us a chance to celebrate a new beginning while taking part in traditions that will continue long after we're gone.

An invitation

What makes weddings so special isn’t the venue or the menu, but the people who clear their schedules and choose to show up for a milestone in someone else's journey.

As many of us feel stretched thin and pulled in countless directions, these gatherings serve as a reminder of what matters. They prove that despite our busy lives, relationships flourish only when we make time for each other.

If there’s a wedding on your calendar this summer, I hope you’ll go and even stay a little longer than you planned to have that extra conversation and immerse yourself in the day.

You never truly know which of those passing moments will become the memories you cherish years from now.

All the best,

Jim

Written by 1-800-Flowers.com Founder and Chairman Jim McCann, the Celebrations Pulse letters aim to engage with our community. By welcoming your ideas and sharing your stories, we want to help you strengthen your relationships with the most important people in your life.

Across the country, millions of students are walking across stages and into new chapters of their lives — from high school to college, from college into careers, and into adulthood. They deserve every accolade and congratulatory message for all they’ve worked so hard to achieve.

This graduation season feels different, though. Alongside the celebration, there’s an undercurrent of uneasiness about what comes next. You can hear it in conversations between parents, in commencement speeches, and in the chatter at family dinners and graduation parties.

The Class of 2026 is stepping into a world changing at a scale and pace we have never seen before. It’s not just a difficult job market or the stream of unsettling headlines from around the world. It’s the uncertainty around artificial intelligence, which is changing how we learn, work, and create.

All the uneasiness tends to gather around one question: Are these graduates prepared for what’s coming next?

As a grandfather with seven grandchildren at different stages of their educational journeys, I’ve been wrestling with that question a lot lately. There are moments when I feel uneasy about the world these students are entering. Yet I also see real reasons for optimism.

The education behind the education

Much of the anxiety around AI and the future of work comes from a fair question: Will the skills students are learning today still matter tomorrow? The answer depends, in part, on how we define education.

Yes, students studied biology, economics, history, formulas, and plenty else. Those subjects matter because they build knowledge. They also give young people practice in solving problems, testing ideas, asking better questions, and continuing to learn on their own.

I believe the people who will thrive in an AI-powered world will be the ones who combine expertise with the ability to think critically and keep learning. They’ll know how to use new tools without surrendering their own judgment, and they’ll understand that the goal is not simply to produce more, but to decide what is worth producing in the first place.

While machines can write, summarize, analyze information, and generate code, their limits show up when the work requires judgment. For graduates who have learned how to think critically and adapt, their humanity and experiences may be their strongest competitive advantage.

Learning about relationships

Years of education also teach students something that doesn’t appear on a syllabus: how to build relationships, how to maintain them, and how to grow through them.

That begins early. Children learn how to share, read the room, and understand that other people have needs and feelings too. As they grow older, they learn how to navigate friendships, help one another through hard moments, and work with people they may not have chosen for themselves.

Those lessons are reinforced by every teacher who pushes a student to rewrite a draft, every coach who has an honest conversation after a loss, and every classmate who becomes a collaborator and then a friend. These relationships are how young people learn accountability, trust, feedback, and responsibility.

And these skills will become even more important if AI reduces the number of traditional entry-level opportunities. Those early roles have long served as training grounds where young people learn from mistakes. If that pathway narrows, graduates will need to rely even more on the relationships and human skills they’ve been building all along to find work, succeed in more advanced roles, or become entrepreneurs.

Prepared for the future

I began this week’s letter with some uneasiness, and I still feel some of it.

No one can tell these graduates exactly what their working lives will look like as technology and the job market evolve. Some paths that once looked reliable may become less certain, and new ones will emerge faster than any of us can predict.

Maybe that is why commencements are so important. They don’t promise graduates a clear path, but remind them that they’ve already begun building the habits, relationships, and resilience they will need to find their way.

None of us had the future figured out when we were graduating. What we needed then — and today’s graduates need now — is the capacity to keep becoming: to learn, to adjust, to ask for help, to build trust, and to stay connected to people who will help them grow.

That’s what gives me hope even in this uncertain world.

All the best,

Jim

This weekend, Americans are firing up grills, throwing open pool gates, and spilling into backyards. Unofficially, it’s the start of summer. Officially, it’s Memorial Day.

At first glance, the two occasions can feel mismatched. How do we enjoy a festive long weekend while honoring the men and women who gave their lives for this country? How do we balance celebration with solemn remembrance?

The answer, I think, lies within the weekend itself. It’s the children running through the yard, neighbors catching up over fences, and the simple freedom to gather in peace. These are the very freedoms our service members died to protect.

Recognizing this connection gives the holiday deeper meaning while also raising questions for the rest of the year. What are we doing with the freedom we’ve inherited? How are we caring for one another and ensuring that our heroes’ sacrifices are never forgotten?

Keeping the stories alive

Honoring Memorial Day can begin at home, blending naturally with summer traditions. Our family has developed a simple ritual to remember and celebrate those who served.

It started years ago when my oldest son, James, began asking his grandfather, Grandpa Irk, about his military service. Like many of his generation, he was reluctant to talk about his World War II experience, during which he flew B-29 Superfortresses for three years in the Pacific Theater before returning to civilian life in Pennsylvania.

Undeterred, James researched his grandfather’s military record. After sharing his discoveries with the family, we turned the idea into a patriotic holiday tradition: assigning a service-related research project to one of the grandchildren each year.

During our gatherings, family members present their findings, just as James did years ago. It has become a powerful way to keep history alive on Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, and Veterans Day. I hope you’ll give it a try with the young people in your family. It feels especially important as the generations who served in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam leave us.

Repaying our debt

Ultimately, Memorial Day is about more than remembrance; it’s a call to action. It forces us to look inward and evaluate what we are doing to strengthen our communities and serve causes larger than ourselves.

While most of us will never be asked to make the ultimate sacrifice, we are not relieved of our civic obligations. We must be humble enough to recognize the vast difference between our daily lives and the sacrifice made by those who died in uniform.

The heroes we honor on Memorial Day preserved our freedom to gather, speak, worship, and build. They paid the highest price to protect the communities we now call home. Because they secured the foundation of our society, our duty is to sustain and improve it, ensuring their sacrifice continues to yield a nation worth fighting for.

Remembrance and gratitude are only starting points; service is how gratitude becomes action. Whether that means mentoring someone, supporting a military family, volunteering locally, or simply being a good neighbor, the specific gesture matters less than the willingness to show up.

Building on a sacred foundation

A nation endures because its people remain willing to contribute. The service members we honor this weekend understood that. They gave their lives to preserve the everyday fabric of the communities they left behind.

But that fabric requires constant attention. Without people willing to ask what the moment demands of them, the inheritance our fallen heroes secured will diminish. What Memorial Day asks of us is whether we are contributing to the legacy we’ve been given.

How we answer that question in the weeks and months ahead — through the daily work of showing up for our neighbors and communities — will ultimately determine what kind of country we build on the foundation they died to protect.

All the best,

Jim

Written by our Founder and Chairman, the Celebrations Pulse letters aim to engage with our community. By welcoming your ideas and sharing your stories, we want to help you strengthen your relationships with the most important people in your life.

Supporters of Smile Farms gathered last week for the 12th Annual Smile Farms Golf Outing, a day that unfolded across two beautiful courses — Sands Point Golf Club and North Hempstead Country Club — before everyone came together for an evening reception.

Every foursome, sponsor, and conversation over dinner helps create meaningful employment opportunities for people with developmental disabilities. That mission is at the heart of Smile Farms: helping people develop skills, build confidence, earn a paycheck, and experience the dignity that comes from meaningful work.

This year, Smile Farms honored David Hersh, founder and owner of Rooted Hospitality Group. David has built his business around genuine hospitality and the belief that companies should enrich the lives of the people and communities they serve. That commitment makes him a natural partner in Smile Farms’ mission.

Thank you to David, our Golf Outing Committee, our sponsors, our golfers, and everyone who helped make this year’s outing such a memorable success. Because of this community, Smile Farms continues to grow opportunities on and off the course.

Shortly after opening my first flower shop in Manhattan, I learned an early lesson about inventory, cash flow, and humility: Memorial Day was approaching, and I had ordered far too many roses.

That may sound like a nice problem for a florist. It wasn’t. Fresh flowers aren’t like shirts or shoes — you can't put last week’s roses on a sale rack. If the holiday passes and you've bought too much, the roses wilt, and your money goes with them.

At the time, Marylou and I were stretching every dollar. I was already calculating what this mistake would cost us that first summer, including how many steaks and cases of beer we would not be buying for the family barbecue.

Then the phone rang.

It was the wife of the Cuban ambassador to the United Nations. Invited to a party at Henry Kissinger’s apartment, she wanted to bring something special. Her idea: three double vases filled with enormous long-stem roses. As for the cost, she said she would pay whatever it took.

By 7:30 that evening, the arrangements had been delivered to the apartment. The roses looked spectacular — and for a young florist who had badly misjudged the weekend, they solved a very real problem. We were sold out of roses.

I went home that night smiling and, for the first time that summer, hungry for a charcoal-broiled T-bone.

Fifty years in, I still think about that weekend. The lesson was that every business is built through moments of uncertainty, small mistakes, unexpected calls, and people who give you a chance to deliver. Luck doesn’t always save you, though you’ve got to be grateful when it does.

Summer has a way of arriving slowly and then moving too quickly. One minute we’re talking about Memorial Day, and before long we’re counting the weekends left before school starts and the rhythm of fall begins to return.

That’s why I’ve been thinking about how we can be more intentional with these weeks while we still have them. Maybe it means one more dinner outside, one more walk after sunset, one more visit with friends, or one more afternoon when the phone stays in another room and the people in front of us get our full attention.

Some of my favorite summer memories are simple ones: family gathered around a table, grandchildren running in and out of the house, a last-minute trip for ice cream, and the pleasure of sitting outside a little longer than usual because no one is in a rush to be anywhere else. Those moments don’t always announce themselves as important while they’re happening. Only later do we realize they were the season’s real gifts.

So I’d love to hear from you: How are you planning to make summer last? Are there traditions you’re holding onto, small rituals you’re bringing back, or people you’re making a point to seeing before the season slips away?

Share your story, and I may include it in a future edition of the Celebrations Pulse.

Share Your Story

Why the work continues

An estimated one in five adults experiences mental illness each year. The causes are complicated and often interconnected, including substance abuse, trauma, financial stress, workplace pressure, and the ordinary difficulties of life that can become overwhelming when carried alone.

Loneliness deserves particular attention because it can both contribute to mental health challenges and serve as a warning sign that someone is struggling. In recent years, social isolation has become an epidemic across generations and genders. Adults over 45 report higher levels of loneliness than they did just a few years ago, younger people are struggling as well, and men now report loneliness at slightly higher rates than women.

Research has also shown that social isolation is linked to a greater risk of depression, anxiety, and other serious health conditions. That tells us something important: Connection is part of how we stay well physically and mentally.

Ways to support mental well-being

Each of us has a role to play in supporting mental health. We may not be able to solve every challenge someone is facing, but we can reach out, listen, and remind people they do not have to carry their burdens alone. All we have to do is use our power of connection.

Small actions can make a big difference. A phone call, a text, an invitation to coffee, or a simple “How are you doing?” asked with enough patience to hear the real answer can help someone feel seen, supported, and less alone. Those gestures can lift our spirits, too.

And don’t forget your own mental well-being. Reflecting on what gives life meaning — whether it’s work, personal growth, or community involvement — can guide you toward stronger relationships and a greater sense of fulfillment. Showing appreciation, offering support, and engaging in meaningful conversations can all help.

What’s more, these qualities reinforce one another. Strong relationships, for example, build resilience, while a sense of purpose can deepen connections and motivate meaningful action.

Mental Health Awareness Month starts a conversation that deserves to continue well beyond May. Every time we reach out or ask for help ourselves, we push back against the silence that left too many people suffering alone.

All the best,

Jim

One Saturday night 50 years ago, Marylou and I left the shop around 11 p.m. and headed home to Bellerose, Queens. She was pregnant at the time, and we were driving a white Ford Econoline van that had already seen better days.

Somewhere on the 59th Street Bridge, as we came over the rail yards into Queens Plaza, the van stalled completely.

I spotted a gas station at the bottom of the hill and told Marylou we needed to switch places. She climbed into the driver’s seat while I got out and pushed the van over the crest of the bridge. My plan was simple: gravity would carry us downhill, and she would steer us into the station beneath the elevated train tracks.

The good news is we made it. The bad news is that we clipped one of the support pillars on the way in and ripped off the entire right rear side of the van.

At the time, moments like that didn’t feel unusual. When you’re building a business from scratch, there’s always something breaking down: a truck, a refrigerator, a delivery schedule, or even your own energy. You improvise, solve the problem in front of you, and keep moving because there really isn’t another option.

Looking back now, I realize those years taught me something important about resilience. Most businesses don’t survive 50 years because the road is smooth. They survive because people keep pushing forward together, even when the engine stalls halfway across a bridge.

One of my favorite Mother’s Day week rituals is ringing the opening bell at Nasdaq in Times Square. For years, I’ve been joined by our colleagues and many of their moms, and this year was no different.

Standing alongside CEO Adolfo Villagomez, our team, our families, and so many wonderful mothers from across the 1-800-Flowers community, I was reminded of the values that have guided us from the beginning: care, thoughtfulness, generosity, and the relationships we strive to build every day.

When I think back to our first shop, not far from Times Square, I remember that Marylou and I spent many Saturdays and Sundays there, often working late into the evening. What we learned then still guides us now: We are invited into people’s lives at very special moments, and our role is to help them express what matters most.

A special thank you to Nasdaq for hosting us and to everyone who helped mark the occasion. To all the moms and mother figures in our lives, today and every day, we celebrate you.

Motherhood rarely follows a single script. The basic facts may be the same — your mom brought you into the world and influenced you in ways you’re still discovering — but the journey looks different for everyone who experiences it.

What is consistent is that it’s rarely easy, whether mothers face illness, loss, financial strain, or countless hard choices along the way. And somehow, they keep going.

Our moms’ resilience and sacrifice are part of why Mother’s Day is so important. It gives us a reason to pause and recognize something that’s deeply personal, but also easy to overlook in the pace of everyday life.

One of the best parts of writing this letter is reading your stories about your Amazing Moms. They capture what no general statement ever could: the small acts of care, strength, humor, discipline, generosity, and love that make every mother’s story its own.

I’m honored to share a few of them.

The invisible work of love

Some of the most powerful expressions of motherhood occur in the flow of everyday life and are easy to miss. As several of your stories show, this work often serves as the invisible glue that holds families and communities together.

Alicia, for instance, wrote about her daughter, a military spouse raising her family overseas while also giving her time to others in her community. Her days stretch long, filled with responsibilities at home and beyond. “She stays up late sewing patches on vests and uniforms, running family errands, and helping others,” Alicia wrote.

What makes an Amazing Mom? In this moving episode of Celebrate Your Story , I return to that question through the words of the Celebrations Pulse community.

Dee, another community member, shared a portrait of her mother, whose role has shifted over the years without her ever slowing down. She manages her husband’s care, keeps their business running, and still finds ways to help others. Dee adds:

“If someone needs help, she is there… She even bags food and brings it to people in need along the road.”

Jennifer described her daughter balancing a full-time career with raising two children and supporting her church community — a life layered with responsibility and still rooted in generosity. “She is also a wonderful cook who often shares meals with those in need.”

What Amazing Moms teach us

Some of our moms’ most important lessons emerge in the ordinary moments when plans fall apart and someone must figure out what comes next. It’s in these high-pressure moments that a mother’s true ingenuity shines.

Pati, for instance, shared a story from a time when money was tight and the cupboards were nearly empty. That morning, her daughters flipped a coin to decide who would get the last pork chop. Her youngest won. Then came a phone call: “My mother-in-law called to say she was arriving in an hour — with seven relatives — for dinner,” Pati recalled.

Pati and her daughters gathered what they had — rice, an onion, a few mushrooms, green beans, canned biscuits, and that one pork chop. They stretched the pork into gravy, cooked the rice, baked the biscuits, picked flowers from the yard, and served the meal family-style. When someone asked for dessert, they improvised again.

After everyone left, Pati and her daughters “collapsed in laughter.” Her youngest, who had given up her pork chop, said it was worth it. “That day, my daughters learned how to make something out of nothing — and how to make it meaningful.”

The many moms in our lives

Another story is a reminder that motherhood isn’t limited to biology. It’s often a collection of different voices and helping hands that come together to build a foundation of love where one might otherwise have been missing. Rosie’s story brings this idea to life.

Her mother left when Rosie and her siblings were young. Her father stepped in to raise them, giving up his military career. Later, her stepmother helped create a stable home. Along the way, Rosie also found care beyond her family – in a friend’s mom, a coach, and a drama teacher. “Thank you, ladies, for being the missing pieces in my life,” she said.

Now a mother herself, Rosie looks back with gratitude for the people who supported her even when life was neither easy nor ideal.

“Love is a choice,” she concluded.

A love that never ends

Mother’s Day can bring a mix of emotions. Alongside celebration, there are stories tinged with loss — and about the ways love continues even after someone is gone.

Amy shared what the day has come to mean for her. She lost her son when he was 31:

“For me, Mother’s Day is full of joy because of my grown children and grandchildren, but it is also a day that breaks my heart and takes my breath away. People don’t understand that time does not heal these wounds. Please keep us in mind.”

Courtney wrote about losing her mother and recognizing her in everyday moments.

“I catch myself mirroring her mannerisms — even laughing like her. I feel it in small, unexpected moments… I feel her everywhere. She left a space that can’t be filled — but also a presence that hasn’t disappeared.”

***

Taken together, these stories illustrate the ways we’re influenced by those who care for us — and how that care carries forward, often in ways we don’t fully realize until much later.

If you’re fortunate to have your mother in your life today, I hope you’ll take a moment to let her know what she means to you. For those of us who have lost our moms, we can honor them by continuing to share their stories and putting the lessons they taught us into practice.

By living out the values all our moms instilled, we keep their spirit and love very much alive in us.

Happy Mother’s Day,

Jim

Written by 1-800-Flowers.com’s Founder and Chairman, the Celebrations Pulse letters aim to engage with our community. By welcoming your ideas and sharing your stories, we want to help you strengthen your relationships with the most important people in your life.

My mother played a central role in the early days of the company. She handled the accounting and kept everything organized while the rest of us focused on the shop. She believed in paying attention to details, taking responsibility for your work, and doing things the right way.

Those lessons have stayed with me ever since.

My mom is no longer with us, and I miss her every day. I still celebrate Mother’s Day by thinking about her and all she did for me. I also celebrate the moms throughout my life, including my wonderful wife, my sisters, and our daughter, and daughters-in-law. I could not have built this life, this family, or this business without them.

The first two weeks of May bring together three occasions that seem different at first glance. One honors people who work in hospitals and clinics, another celebrates those who teach in our schools, and the third recognizes the first person many of us ever know.

But it’s no coincidence that Teacher Appreciation Week, Nurses Week, and Mother’s Day fall so close together. Each recognizes often-unheralded caregivers who hold together our families and communities.

Though their roles differ, nurses, teachers, and mothers all share a similar mission: They guide us, advocate for us, and keep us moving forward — especially when we’re most vulnerable, whether we’re sick, scared, or still figuring out who we are.

This stretch of the calendar is a good reminder of their influence on our lives. It’s also a prompt to carry that recognition and our gratitude well beyond it.

A nurse’s calling to care

In one of the first Celebrations Pulse letters, in the spring of 2020, I wrote about the critical role nurses played during the pandemic. They were working around the clock, helping patients and families navigate situations that were unfamiliar and overwhelming.

That level of care didn’t begin with the pandemic, and it didn’t end there. If anything, it has only grown more essential as our healthcare system has become more expensive and complex.

Nurses do more than care for patients. They shape the culture of every clinic, doctor’s office, and hospital they work in — and that culture has a direct effect on the care we receive.

I was once on the board of a major hospital trying to recruit one of the world’s leading gastroenterologists. He could have chosen any hospital in the New York area. He chose ours. When asked why, he pointed to the way the hospital treated its nurses and the way those nurses understood their work as a calling rather than a job.

I thought about that recently during two routine appointments. The first office had every detail in place. The second was more modest. But it was there that the nurse took the time to ask a few extra questions and make sure I understood everything before I left. She made me feel like I wasn’t just the next name on the schedule.

Nothing about that visit was remarkable on paper. What stood out was the nurse’s attention and presence, which were choices she made repeatedly throughout the course of a long day. For me, it made all the difference in the world.

Teachers & lessons that last

When people think about who shaped their lives, a teacher often comes to mind. But it’s not just because of the material they covered, but how they approached the work.

I think often about a teacher I had at John Jay College, Dr. Blanche Cook. Her classroom required participation. You were expected to come prepared, form an opinion, and be ready to explain it. Silence was not a way to get through the class.

Sure, there were moments of discomfort in that process. Questions came without much warning. Assumptions were examined closely. It took effort to keep up.

Over time, though, that approach built the ability to think through an idea and revise it when needed. That’s a common thread among teachers who have a lasting influence: They create an environment where effort matters and where students begin to recognize their own capabilities.

As for Dr. Cook, I lost touch with her after graduation. But at a conference years later, her name came up in a conversation about great teachers. It turned out one of Dr. Cook’s closest friends was in the room. We reconnected and have stayed close for more than 20 years.

Teacher Appreciation Week is a great reason to reach out to the Dr. Cooks in your life.

Amazing Moms

If the qualities we admire in nurses and teachers feel familiar, it’s because most of us encountered them long before we had words for them. We saw them at home.

Mothers — and the motherly figures in our lives — are usually our first teachers and our first nurses. They show us how to get back up after a setback, how to stay patient when things don’t come easily, and how to care for someone without waiting to be thanked.

They make thousands of small decisions most of us never notice. Those decisions shape a household and the people within it.

And the influence carries. The encouragement we receive early in life turns up later in how we show up for others. The care we were given becomes the care we know how to give.

***

Care has a starting point, and it’s with amazing nurses, teachers, and moms. When it’s given generously, it moves outward, shaping families and communities.

That’s reason enough to pause this month and honor the people who give care so freely. Not just with a week on the calendar, but with the recognition that what they do is among the most important work there is.

All the best,

Jim

Written by our Founder and Chairman, the Celebrations Pulse letters aim to engage with our community. By welcoming your ideas and sharing your stories, we want to help you strengthen your relationships with the most important people in your life.

If you’re in the Long Island area on May 18, I’d love to invite you to join us for the Smile Farms 12th Annual Golf Outing.

It’s always a wonderful day of golf, friendship, and purpose, held across Sands Point Golf Club and North Hempstead Country Club. Whether you play a round, become a sponsor, or join us for the evening reception, your participation helps support meaningful employment opportunities for adults with developmental disabilities.

That mission is what Smile Farms is all about: helping people grow their skills, confidence, and independence through work that gives them dignity and purpose.

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