I Talked to an Angel Once.. (Full Bloom)

I had turned 17. I was a senior in High School (homeschooled or homeschooled or homeschooled ). Dad held to his opinion that it was time for me to get a job. Oh the dread, considering I wasn’t allowed to get my license until I was 18. Dreaded especially considering he was suggesting I be able to walk to work, or take the bus. Down the hill from our house there is a shopping center consisting of a Ralph’s, Mobil, Rite-Aid, Blockbuster, the typical hair salon, dry cleaner, and restaurants. Back in 2001 there were some cute little shops. One was called Offspring ('..and all the girlies say I'm pretty fly..' I can't help it, I thought it every time, and still do.). It was an extremely overpriced children’s clothing store. The owner was a precious sister-in-Christ though and the clothes were adorable. There was also a shop called Full Bloom.





Full Bloom seemed cute. Filled with items for your home, it was a store that pleaded with women to enter. As you walked inside it smelled so delicious. I will never forget it. The aroma of candles, mixed with flowers, eucalyptus, and everything else that combines to make the aroma of those stores like a sparkle of freshness when you open the door and the air bursts against your face! There were usually pots and bins of flowers outside, rustic iron pieces sitting outside the front door seemed to beckon you inside. There was a crackled Martha Who? sign in blue and white hanging above the cash register. I had been in Full Bloom once. I felt at ease there and tried to spend a day as a volunteer worker for a school assignment in 1999 to which the owner promptly refused.





“Why don’t you apply at Ralph’s?” Dad said. “I do NOT want to work in a grocery store, Dad.” “Well, you really have no choice. You need to fill out an application and turn it in. Your brother worked there and it’s close enough that you can walk.” “How am I supposed to walk there, in the summer, and not be a sweaty mess?” “You need to turn in an application by Thursday.” I turned in an application Thursday.





A week went by. Dad told me I needed to follow up on the application. I did. I ended up with a lame interview. I was basically told, “Don’t call us, we’ll call you.” I think I probably sighed with relief. I never heard from them again. In the meantime I had started to wind down my first year of community college. As a High School student you can attend the Junior College free of tuition charges, you just pay enrollment fees and for books. I decided to apply at Full Bloom. Wearing my ankle length denim skirt I went inside and asked for an application. I filled it out and returned it the next day. A week later I stopped back in. I found out the owner’s name was Rhonda. We chatted a bit. She ended up telling me that she thought my application was great, but that she wouldn’t be able to hire me. Rhonda’s sister was sending her niece down for the summer and that meant her niece would be helping in the store. We talked about how I planned on attending The Master’s College once I got some Gen Ed done at COC. We talked about how I played the violin and about my church. I was beginning to think that it really was too bad I wasn’t going be able to work there. Not only did the store smell good, the owner was cool! Rhonda said, “We’re gonna put a sticker on your application so that next time we hire we can give you a call.”





Summer came and went. I somehow managed to be out of the house enough with babysitting that I wasn’t forced to pound the pavement looking for a job.





One day, in early October, I had just gotten home from COC. It was a Friday. The phone rang. I picked it up, “Hello?” The lady on the other side said, “Hi. Is this Erin?” “Yes, it is,” I said. “Hi Erin, this is Kathy, I’m calling from Full Bloom.” “Oh, hey!” “Erin, I’m reviewing your application and I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions.” “Sure!” “Well, I see here that you haven’t had any previous work experience so I was just wondering if you’ve done any babysitting?” “I have done tons (!) of babysitting. I’ve been babysitting for the past 7 years.” “That’s great. Also, I am wondering if you are good with computers?” “I am pretty good with computers. I can do all the basics on them, but if it were to crash I wouldn’t know what needed to be done.” “Ok, sounds good. Erin, are you free to come in Monday for an interview?” “YES! I am! I get out of class at 12:00.” “Ok, why don’t you come in at 1:00pm on Monday.” “That sounds great. See you then!” And we hung up.





I got out of class Monday. Headed home. Ate a sandwich. Changed once more into my ankle length denim skirt and a nice shirt. I’m sure I brushed and re-curled my nice thick bangs. At 12:45 Mom drove me down the hill (I didn’t want to get sweaty for my interview). I strolled inside. Like usual, it smelled so good in there. Music was playing, breeze was blowing. The lady from the register greeted me. “Hello,” she said. “Hi,” I answered. “My name is Erin. I’m here for my interview.” She paused and looked at me and smiled, “That’s funny, Rhonda didn’t say anything about an interview.” “Oh, I didn’t talk to Rhonda, I scheduled this with Kathy.” “Ok. Hmm.. We don’t have anyone working here named Kathy, besides Rhonda is the owner so she is the one who would be doing any interviews. Let me just give her a quick call and see what’s up.” Cindi called Rhonda and began to explain the situation. Rhonda remembered me from the chats we had earlier in the year. Cindi handed the phone to me. “Hi Rhonda!” “Erin! Hi! I hear you are there for an interview.” “Yeah, I am.” “Erin, I didn’t call you.” “I know! I know you didn’t, because the person who called me was Kathy.” “We don’t have anyone by the name of Kathy and never have. Erin, do me a favor. I really liked you so I might have given your name to Lisa over at Offspring. Why don’t you run down there and see if they were the ones who gave you a call.” “Ok, I’ll do that. The person I talked to said they were calling from Full Bloom though, but I’ll go check.” “Ok, then call me back. I’m so curious about this!”





I ran over to Offspring. It was just three doors down. As I popped my head inside I said to Lisa, “This is actually gonna sound weird, but do you have an interview scheduled for 1:00pm today?” “No, I don’t.” “I got a call for an interview at Full Bloom, but Rhonda and I don’t know where the call came from and she thought maybe she gave my number to you and the interview was here.” I smiled.





As crazy as the story sounded, Rhonda, Cindi, and Lisa, didn’t doubt my word. They didn’t think I was loony. They were all just as curious as I was. I told Lisa thank you then ran back over to Full Bloom. “It wasn’t her,” I said to Cindi. “It wasn’t her,” Cindi repeated into the phone. She handed the phone back to me. “Erin?” “Yes?” “This is so crazy!” “I know!” “Erin, do you believe in angels?” “Yes.” “Because I think that’s who called you.” “Wow.” “And listen to this. I am sitting here in my office. I have been so worried. I just signed a lease to open a shop at the mall for the Christmas season, and I was just going crazy wondering how I was supposed to get that store ready to go and who to hire for the extra shifts we’re now going to have.” “Well, I’m free,” I said. “Do this for me, leave your number with Cindi, and the hours you are available to work and when I get in to the store I’ll look it over and give you a call, because after all this, I’m a little afraid NOT to hire you.”





I ended up getting hired and thus began my relationship with Full Bloom, Rooms & Blooms, Rhonda and Donnie, Cindi and Laina. Flower arrangements, topiaries, Trapp candles, tea towels, painting and crackling and distressing furniture and wreath making. Interior Design and shabby chic. The Mart in Downtown. Jeb Loy Nichols – Tom Petty – Lyle Lovett – BB King(ain't nobody here but us chickens) – Ella Fitzgerald – John Mayer and Nora Jones. Floor moves after closing. CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS. Oasis, bow making, fluffing, filling pots. Pricing, opening and closing, reconciling the cash register. Parakeets (to me, the top of the parakeet's heads smelled like syrup.). Feng Shui, “Erin, we hang a mirror above the register to create proper flow.” Great memories and soooo much learned. I still visit with Rhonda. She has hired me back when I’ve been in between other jobs. When I put in my 2 weeks notice 10-1/2 months ago, she said, “You’ll be back Erin, you never really leave.”