Flower Vendor Celine Arda expects more customers at Freedom Park for her flowers, Mothers’ Day
Mother’s Day is just an ordinary Sunday for Celine Arda, a 45-year-old flower vendor at Cebu City’s Carbon Market.
The special day for mothers, however, means bigger sales as passersby would probably drop by her stall to buy flowers for their beloved moms.
Arda, who lives in Busay, Cebu City, wakes up at 4 a.m. everyday for her one-hour ride to downtown Cebu where she tends to her flower stall at the Freedom Park in Carbon market. She usually calls it a day at around 9 p.m.
She said she and her daughters don’t celebrate Mother’s Day and she has never received flowers from her husband or her daughters.
“I can’t really leave my flower stall on occasions like this when flowers are usually in demand. But for me, Mother’s Day is not only in the month of May,” said Arda, who has three daughters.
“For me the simple things my daughters do to me like understanding me when my husband and I broke up was enough proof of their love. And that simple “puto and sikwate” they prepare for my breakfast every morning,” said Arda, who has been separated from her husband for months now.
She believes things like her daughters’ understanding and care are what makes her days special.
Growing up in the flower business, Arda now manages her own flower stall at Freedom Park.
Arda said she started in the business when she was nine, helping her father sell flowers in Carbon.
“Makahinumdum ko saona, maglukdo kog balde magtuyok-tuyok sa Carbon para mabaligya akong mga tinda nga bulak. Dili gyod ko mubalik sa among pwesto kung di mahurot, usahay ako nalang pabayloan og mga utanon para malipay akong mama,” said Arda. (I can still recall that I used to carry a pail of flowers on my head going around Carbon to sell them. I didn’t return to our stall if I wasn’t able to sell it all, sometimes I bartered it for vegetables with some vendors.)
She said she earns between P500 and P5,000.
She said the business has been a big help to her family as she was able to send her children to school.
“Akong kinamaguwangan kay high school ra ang nahuman samtang akong isa kay nakatungtung gyod og Mass Comm sa San Jose pero two years ra pod. Nakita man gud nila ang kalisod. Pero nag-hope ko nga mahuman na gyod ni akong kinamanghuran,” said Arda.
(My eldest only finished high school, while my second eldest only had two years of Mass Comm in San Jose. They understood because they saw the financial hardship. But we hope that the youngest can finish college)
Her eldest daughter, Dana, chose to help her arrange bouquets at her stall, her second, Jecel, is now working as a call center agent while her youngest, Dessa, plans to enroll in a tourism course at the University of Cebu.
“It’s sad knowing that my other two daughters weren’t able to obtain a degree, but I am lucky as a mother that they didn’t leave me and instead chose to help send our youngest to school,” said Arda in Bisauan.
Today, she expects that more customers will visit Freedom Park to buy flowers. She usually displays golden yellow, wonder white and roses, which are the bestsellers.