By Greg & Dorrie DePedro, Owners of Coatesville Flower Shop

At the approach of the first anniversary of our daughter Lisa’s death we were overwhelmed with indecision of what to do that day.  Do we stay in bed and bury our heads?  Do we cry and scream at the skies asking why?  We did that for awhile, but because of the love of our friends and my faith in God, We got up and got going.

When our daughter was diagnosed and the reports were not good, the community we consider our ‘family’ came to our aid.  They cooked dinners for us, drove Lisa’s daughter to her horseback riding lessons, took us for chemo, cleaned our house, shopped for groceries and the list goes on and on.

So many people wanted to do so much for us that finally we asked Lisa “Is there anything you need?  So many people want to help and we don’t know what to tell them”.  Her answer to us was “Tell them to ‘do something nice for someone today’ in my name.”  And so began Lisa’s legacy.

We own a family-run flower shop which my daughter was an integral part.  She was a beautiful designer and basically ran the business.  Her favorite flower was the rose.  And the weeks leading up to that first anniversary a seed was planted.

Every year on the anniversary of our sweet Lisa’s death we honor her legacy of ‘do something nice for someone today’. We invite everyone we know, everyone in our town, anyone who wants to come to our Flower Shop and receive a dozen roses free of charge.

There is one stipulation… you keep one for yourself and give the others to 11 people who need a smile, who need encouragement who just need something nice to be done for them.  And so the idea of “Lisa’s Roses” began.   That first year we gave away almost 2,000 roses! We were so thrilled.  People came from everywhere to keep Lisa’s memory alive.  These loving people helped us through one of the worst days of our lives.

On August 23rd it will be 11 years. We have continued the tradition every year.  Last year on her 10th anniversary we gave away over 10,000 roses.  Ten thousand of our Lisa’s smile left our shop that day.  People up and down the street were carrying a rose and smiling.    “Lisa’s Roses” has grown and friends in other towns, other states, other countries are going out and buying their own roses and doing the same thing in her memory.

We now try to help other parents who have lost children.  We invite everyone to bring in a picture and post it on our Prayer Board.    We want everyone who has unfortunately felt the same loss to share their child’s memory.  Many come in and we invite them to hand out the dozens of roses in THEIR child’s name.

We all mourn.  We all are in pain. We all need to say their name and share their smile.  Believe it or not, talking about them and sharing a laugh about something they did or just seeing one of their friends somehow lightens your heart and brings you comfort.

Editor’s Note: Due to the 23rd being a Sunday, the DePedro’s will give away roses at their store at 259 Lincoln Highway in Coatesville on Friday, August 21st.