For Amber Dickson and Dawn Failing, flowers run in the family.
For 10 years, their mom, Diane McDermott, ran her Little Posy Place on Main Street, Schoharie, a craft she learned from her own mom, Evelyn Gallup, who learned it from her mother.
Now it’s their turn.
Two months after Ms. McDermott died from complications from COVID, the two are crossing their fingers and reopening her Little Posy Place as Mimi’s Little Posy Place, just in time for Mother’s Day.
Of course.
“She was the best mother in the entire world,” Ms. Failing said Friday as the sisters juggled phone calls, order, and customers, and talked about their plans.
“All the misfits I brought home as a kid…She loved them all.”
“You could go to her with anything,” added Ms. Dickson.
Ms. McDermott was also a mother and a mentor to other local florists, sharing jobs and advice with colleagues who became friends like Jess Goblet at Farmhouse Floral and Allison Sanganetti at Flower Ally—friendships her daughters continue to count on.
Her grandkids—all seven of them—called her Mimi, and so the name; despite the chaos and challenges of balancing work and family, Ms. Dickson and Ms. Failing want to do whatever they can to keep the shop going.
“We really thought about it,” Ms. Dickson said, “but we can’t let everything Mom worked so hard for just go away.
“The community has always been so supportive of us, even at her funeral. We’d rather fail trying instead of not trying at all.”
Ms. Dickson and Ms. Failing filled Valentine’s Day orders for their mom—she died February 27; since then they’ve been keeping busy with cut flowers, arrangements, birthday bouquets, and now, Easter.
Though they’re still working out the details, Mimi’s Little Posy Place will be reborn with a grand reopening celebration on Saturday, May 7.
Ms. Dickson will be manning the phone and handling orders and deliveries; Ms. Failing, who owns the Tweaked Boutique next door, will be Mimi’s designer.
“We’ll figure it out,” Ms. Dickson said.