OGDEN, Utah — An Ogden woman is honoring her mother’s memory by bringing joy to people across the city.
Angela Wilson hosts free pop-up flower stands once a week, where she gives out bouquets to anyone who walks up until she runs out of vases.
"It's like the easiest thing. I go buy some cheap flowers from Smith’s and the return on investment is awesome,” Wilson said. “No one's mad about free flowers, so it’s just like this awesome thing I look forward to every week."
On Thursday, Wilson hosted her seventh stand, giving away her 96th vase. She had help from her sister, Camie Walworth, and gave away little hand-painted watercolor gift tags that people could take and write messages on. After 15 minutes, every vase was claimed by people who had either seen Wilson’s posts and came to her stand on the corner of 25th Street and Grant Avenue, or people were just walking by and picked one up.
The stands are in memory of Wilson and Walworth’s mom, Paula Bartholomew, who passed away in August 2023.
“She loved having fresh flowers in her home,” said Wilson.
"She loved a good deal, so she would be so excited that it was free,” added Walworth.
"My mom would be so freaking excited that I’m doing this,” said Wilson. “Whenever I do stuff like this, something will happen that’s kind of like a reminder that my mom is here and thinking of me.”
The flower stands are Wilson’s way of remembering her mom and sharing her story with the community. It’s a story that has pulled the heart strings of strangers, like Andrea Corbridge.
"I love my mom so much and luckily she’s still alive, but it really touched my heart that she would do something like this in honor of her mom, just to make other people happy,” said Corbridge. She brought more jars to help Wilson put out more bouquets and brought her grandson to pick out some flowers for his mom.
With every flower given out, Wilson shares her mom's story.
"I’ve made a lot of friends doing this, which is kind of wild, and I’ve had people reach out with their own story of their mom,” said Wilson.
The two sisters channel their grief into spreading joy and creating a legacy to last forever.
"It feels like she’s close, and I know that she’s proud of us,” said Walworth.
Wilson has another way of spreading joy with her art, through her Instagram account (@gifts_no_one_asked_for), where people can nominate a loved one to receive free art. Wilson then creates something and mails it to them. She also posts where and when her next flower stand will be, so people can come by.
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Angela | mailer of free original art (@gifts_no_one_asked_for) • Instagram photos and videos
