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Love at First Sight
Every Bloom sculpture tells a story ... and so do the people who cherish them! Last month, we enjoyed reading such stories from customers who submitted their family collecting traditions to our Generations Contest. The winners formed a 5-way tie, so we will be sending the new Generations sculpture to their homes this month!
We look forward to sharing our winners' stories, as told to us, in upcoming issues of Expressions in Bloom. Our first story, below, comes from a new grandmother in Albia, Iowa. Happy reading!
A Grandmother's Story
At 8 a.m. on the first day of spring in 2008, Ashlee Anderson was admitted to the hospital. An otherwise healthy 28-year-old mother-to-be, her blood pressure was climbing. The doctors decided to induce labor to head off dangerous complications.
Ashlee was given an epidural and promptly fell asleep while her family waited. Her mother, Sandy Anderson, paced and worried. Watching her daughter go through childbirth would be frightening enough, but what if something went wrong?
 When a healthy 5 pound baby was born later that day, Sandy was flooded with relief. Ashlee was fine! And then Sandy beheld her granddaughter. Studying Ava's tiny face for signs of her own daughter 28 years ago, Sandy saw Ashlee's dark tufts of hair and "movie star" lips. She felt the tiny hand grip her finger. She fell in love.
When Sandy returned home - she lives in Albia, Iowa, just a short drive from Ashlee - she began to think of how she might commemorate this miraculous event in their lives. And then her Isabel Bloom catalog arrived in the mail.
"When I saw Love at First Sight and read the quote, I broke down in tears," she says. "It was perfect. It not only captured the gift of Ava, but the health of Ashlee."
Sandy climbed into her car and drove an hour and a half to the Bloom Studio at Valley Junction in West Des Moines. When she saw the sculpture, she choked up again.
"I was so touched by it," she says. "When I gave it to Ashlee, she cried too. It sits proudly on a table at Ashlee's, where it reminds everyone of how blessed we are."
 Sandy has continued to collect Blooms for Ashlee and Ava, placing Grace under the tree for the baby's first Christmas. (Grace is Ava's middle name.) When Ava fell in love with snowmen, Winter Friends hopped on Santa's sleigh. This year, Sandy has set her sights on Little Lady (Ava loves bugs) and Zinnia Fairy ("Ava is a little pixie fairy").
"No one captures family moments with the simplicity of Isabel Bloom," Sandy says. "The sculptures are so meaningful to my family. The Generations sculpture will be a perfect addition to our collection. Thank you so much!"
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