“So I thought， a sign， what could it be？ And it seemed it was the flower that had to go. But I’ll miss it， and what it represents.”
Her hazel eyes gazed off in recollection as she continued. “I was so lucky to have had her.” Her voice trailed off and she met my eyes again， then smiled sadly. “But I don’t need to wear a flower to be reminded of these things. I really do know that. It was just an outward sign of my treasured memories—they’re still there even with the flower gone...but still， I will miss it...Oh， here’s the project. I hope it meets with your approval.” She handed me the neatly prepared folder， signed with a hand-drawn flower， her signature trademark， below her name.
That day I knew that the flower this young woman wore in her hair was symbolic of her outpouring of love—a way for her to stay connected to the young mother she had lost when she herself was a young girl.
I looked over the project she had completed， and felt honored that it had been treated by one with such depth and capacity for feeling. No wonder her work was consistently excellent. She lived in her heart daily. And caused me to revisit mine.
她总是在头发上别一朵花儿，一直如此。大多数时候，我都觉得这看起来有些怪怪的。大白天戴朵花？去上班？参加专业会议？她是一名有抱负的平面造型设计师，在我工作的宽大、繁忙的办公室里上班。每天，她都会轻盈地步入这间格外现代和明净的办公室，披肩秀发上别着一朵花，花色通常与她的套装搭配，别在她那浓密的深褐色卷发上，就像一把鲜艳的小阳伞。有些时候，像公司的圣诞节聚会，花儿增添喜庆的气氛，看起来很合宜。但是，带着花儿来上班就有些不妥当了。对此，办公室里一些更具“职业意识”的女性格外愤慨，她们认为有人应该把她叫到一边，告诉她在商界“严肃认真”的“规矩”。我们当中另外一些人，包括我在内，则认为这是一种怪癖。