EAST LANSING, Mich. (WXYZ) — Florists around East Lansing were already expecting to have a busy start to the week with Valentine's Day. However, Monday night's tragedy at MSU altered that.
Not only have customers come to find flowers for memorials at shops like B/A Florist, but they’ve also found comfort.
Laurie Van Ark, second generation owner of B/A Florist, said Valentines Day sales ceased. Lots of cancellations were called in on their biggest holiday, and understandably so.
She tells 7 Action News that on Monday she was inside her business with other employees, including some students. They watched and listened as first responders whizzed by the 44-year-old community staple. Van Ark and her staff sheltered in place.
"When the kids started coming in to get flowers (the next day) to put at the base of the statue, the Spartan statue or around the big MSU rock, ya know, they started telling their stories. They were standing on our floor with tears following down their face and it was just, like, heartbreaking to watch. Their world has been shaken," Van Ark explained.
The next couple of days, she said students poured into the shop to buy flowers for makeshift memorials, vigils, victims and to be heard.
“I think also because a lot of us are moms and I have college kids, and it’s just really a scary thing to think that you’re now wondering if your child is safe," she said.
Right now, Van Ark said it continues to be a surreal week. But they’re taking things day by day.
“It will return to normal slowly, and it’s nice to see people come in and move on but I think it’ll be a slow process," she explained.
