Sunday, September 18, 2016

Thoughts of Being an Entrepreneur, Lessons from My Mom

My parents brought 7 children into the world. While we were growing up, my mother supplemented their income by her little store in a front room of our house. She sold all sorts of things from candies, pens, pencils, papers, salt and other seasonings, canned goods, soft drinks, beer,  kerosene for gas stoves for cooking, anything that people needed for their kitchen, and the school supplies of students who were plentiful in our neighborhood. There was one item that she had to get early in the mornings from a downtown bakery and that was a roll called pandesal which people loved to have for breakfast. I would get up early everyday with her to go get the freshly baked goods from Sunshine Bakery down on the base of the main thoroughfare called Session Road. She would wake me up early in the morning so I could walk with her to go get hot off the oven pan de sal. Young students from the neighborhood came to buy the pandesal for their breakfast. My sisters and I enjoyed these pandesal for breakfast before we left for school.

Nowadays, I wake up early to leave for the flower wholesaler to avoid the peak traffic for commuters and to be able to pick the freshest flowers.
Bells of Ireland, Delphinium, Alstromeria

Hydrangea and Rainbow Roses

Football Mums Strelitzia, Liatris

I do these at least twice a week, depending on how busy I expect to be for the week. Everytime I go out early to get flowers and supplies for my flowershop, I remember my Mom and our early walks. During the cold months, we had to bundle up, and by the time we get to the top of Session Road on our way back home, I was breathless and hot and with a sweater peeled off of me. Mom has long been gone, and the bakery too, but the memories are imprinted in my heart. The lessons I learned from her, her patience with her 7 children, her hardwork, her talents and her quiet demeanor, I now cherish.