Only child Samantha Quereshi was left to take charge of her father's funeral when he died in 2021. On top of her devastating loss, the 25-year-old soon learned that she won't be able to send off her dad with the funeral floral arrangement he deserved because it was too expensive.
Reeling from this experience, Quereshi decided to start a new flower rental business in the U.K. to help other families who may also struggle with the same problems. She opened "Forget Me Nots," which rents out fake flowers for a more affordable cost.
Speaking with Daily Mirror, Quereshi, who has three children, said that she was heartbroken when she couldn't pay for the specific funeral floral arrangement she wanted for her father. She had the idea for the flowers to form the words "Dad" and "Grandad" in the colors of his favorite football team.
While Quereshi was able to arrange for an affordable payment plan with the funeral director, she was told that the florist would need upfront payment. The cost of both flowers was over $400 but instead of closing this deal, Quereshi decided to buy flowers at the supermarket.
Feelings of Failing Her Father
The young mom felt that she failed her father after she was not able to have the right flowers at his funeral. This compounded her grief because her dad was her only family.
"I know if my dad were there, he'd tell me not to worry about it," Quereshi said when she really wanted his final time on earth to be perfect. The mom said she had a difficult time processing this grief because she felt she let him down.
Months after the funeral, Quereshi told BBC that she started making flower arrangements in silk as part of her grieving process. Then, it dawned on her that she can make bespoke reusable flowers that could help other families. Quereshi may also arrange the flowers' delivery with the funeral director so that they can work discreetly.
The feedback on her flower rental business has been positive so far Quereshi is surprised that she could be able to build something sustainable. The budding entrepreneur said that she receives comments from her customers about how happy they are with the quality of the funeral floral arrangement.
Proposal at Father's Funeral
Meanwhile, in South Africa, a man who works as a pastor received a lot of flak for proposing to his grieving fiancé during the funeral of her father. According to the New York Post, the man thought he could help heal her broken heart by offering his undying love and commitment.
The proposal went viral on social media with many commenters thinking it was done in bad taste. However, the fiancé appears to have accepted the proposal even as she was in tears in front of her father's coffin.
Some netizens came to the defense of the man. They saw in his gesture that he was simply trying to make memories with his fiancé. Other netizens speculated that perhaps the man wanted to propose to his girl while her father was still alive and this was his way of assuring him that he was going to make good on his word to commit to the woman he loves.
