An unexpected Mother's Day flower delivery had Maraley McMichael thinking she was being scammed.
I'd had a long day May 8, 2025, including a trip to Anchorage for a doctor appointment and a stop at Costco...getting home near Palmer about 8:30 p.m. I'd unloaded the car, put away the groceries, read my email, and was working on the puzzle on my dining room table, when my cell phone rang about 9:30 pm. Very few people have my cell phone number and no one calls me that late at night, but knowing it might be hospice calling about my husband, Gary, I answered.
A male voice said, "The flower arrangement you ordered is ready to be delivered." I paused, dumbfounded, thinking hard, but then said, "I didn't order a flower arrangement! You must have the wrong number!" He asked if my name was Maraley McMichael. I said yes. He said his wife had just finished the arrangement and it was ready. I could hear young children's noises in the background.
Having experienced scam phone calls in the past, having read and been taught about various scams, (especially by my daughter) and having known people who have been scammed, I decided this must be a scam. Who calls this late at night to talk about a flower arrangement? So, I said there must be some kind of mix-up...that I never order flower arrangements.
After no response from him, I asked, "How much money are we talking about?" When he replied, "$85," I emphasized there was no way I would order anything that cost that much. He said, "Maybe this is a scam." Surprised to hear him say that out loud, I told him that was exactly what I was thinking. I asked him who paid for it. He said he didn't have that information. Just a list of people who ordered and my name was the first one on the list.
I said that perhaps it was a scam involving the Valley Garden Club. I asked if he would read the names on the list so I could see if I recognized any club members. He was willing, but by the time he stumbled over the pronunciation of the sixth name I told him that none of them were familiar to me. I could picture me "accepting" this order, it being delivered, and then him saying, "Okay, that will be $85." I said, "I'm sorry if you are stuck with this arrangement, but I don't want to have anything to do with it," and immediately hung up.
I went back to working my jigsaw puzzle while trying to make sense of the conversation. Come to think of it, he never did say that I would have to pay. But he didn't ask about arranging delivery either. We got hung up about me not ordering it. What if someone was legitimately trying to give me flowers? I could think of no reason expect perhaps someone trying to cheer me up if they'd heard that Gary was in hospice care. (I'd forgotten about Mother's Day.)
I decided I should have asked more questions and called him back to ask if the arrangement was paid for. He didn't answer, and I didn't want to leave a message. I noticed it was a Washington state cell phone number... but most of the hospice nurses had out-of-state cell phone numbers, too. I didn't have the energy to worry about it, put the whole thing out of my mind, and went to bed.
The next day was equally busy, with no time even to take my usual afternoon rest. As I was driving to the Palmer Veterans and Pioneers Home to visit Gary in the late afternoon, a call came through from my son in Denver. I answered but immediately said that I was driving and didn't want to talk long. He said he couldn't talk long
either, because he was in the middle of parking cars in their extra lot for the ballgame at Coors Field. He said, "Did you get a delivery today?" My mind immediately went back to the disturbing phone call of the night before and I groaned.
While sitting at a red signal light I told him about the call and said that I thought it was a scam and after over five minutes of asking questions that provided no answers, I refused to continue the conversation and hung up. I told him I was sorry. Apparently, I had refused a Mother's Day gift from my son. He said he had not given out my cell phone number, and he would check into it. When I got home hours later, I sent my son an email...giving him the exact wording the guy used, which made me think it was a scam. I wrote, "If this is legitimate, the guy sure has a lot to learn about sales phone call wording."
The next morning the doorbell rang. I wasn't even dressed for the day. I looked through the peek hole in the door. A guy was standing there with a clear topped box in his hand. I opened the door warily. I could see the box held flowers and said, "Oh, you must be the guy who called the other night." He handed me the box, and I saw a heart shape filled in with roses. It was absolutely beautiful.
I said, "So, my son got through to you." No, he just figured I should have it and so they were delivering. He motioned to his truck and mentioned his wife, but she was invisible behind the dark windows. His standing before me told me two things: It was paid for and he had my address. He could have said that when he called. I told him I'd called him back and noticed he had a Washington state cell phone number. He said they had just moved to Alaska. I thanked him and closed the door.
I immediately called my son and told him about the delivery. He was relieved. I asked him if he'd ordered through someplace on the internet. (Yes.) He said he called the place that morning and had been on hold for over an hour. He was No. 26 in line. He was happy as the numbers got less, but then when his turn came, an automated voice asked him to leave a message, so he was wondering if it was a scam, too.
When I said flowers were so unexpected, he said that his wife was talking about Mother's Day and since he forgot to get me a card, he decided to order flowers. (In all these years since he left home at age 18, I'd rarely received a greeting card, let alone flowers.) I commented that his wife (of less than two years) was certainly a positive influence on him and he agreed. I described the stunning arrangement and thanked him.
The delivery guy, my son, and I all voiced aloud our concern that it might be a scam. Instead, it was the most memorable Mother's Day gift I have ever received, especially since I said, "no thanks" and hung up on the messenger.
Maraley McMichael was born in Seward but raised in Glennallen. She and her husband enjoyed all things Alaskan and raised their two children in various locations around the state before retiring to Palmer. Summer bicycling and gardening are favorite activities.
