The Day the Flowers Came by David Madden
"The Day the Flowers Came" by David Madden is a poignant exploration of grief and isolation, centered around the character J. D. Hindle. The story begins on Labor Day, when J. D. awakens alone in his home, disoriented after a night of heavy drinking, and is confronted by the delivery of flowers and condolences for the deaths of his wife and children in a hurricane. Despite initial disbelief and attempts to convince himself that no tragedy has occurred, J. D. grapples with the mounting evidence of his family's demise, including newspaper reports and phone calls confirming their deaths. As he navigates the disarray of his home, which he realizes he’s unfamiliar with, the story delves into J. D.'s strained relationship with his wife and the emotional distance that has grown between them.
The narrative culminates in J. D.’s reluctant acceptance of his loss and the transformation of his solitude, marked by a powerful reflection on his wife's words about feeling as though she was “dying slowly.” Ultimately, he experiences a moment of connection with the stars, evoking a bittersweet recognition of his family's presence in his life and memory. This story offers a deep examination of how individuals cope with sudden loss and the complexities of familial relationships, inviting readers to reflect on themes of love, regret, and the passage of time.
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The Day the Flowers Came by David Madden
First published: 1968
Type of plot: Psychological
Time of work: The 1960's
Locale: Rolling Hills Homes, an upper-middle-class subdivision in an unnamed city
Principal Characters:
Jay D. "J. D." Hindle , the protagonist, second vice president of an insurance companyCarolyn Hindle , his wife, mother of his children, Ronnie and EllenBill Henderson , his friend, known for his practical jokes
The Story
After a night of solitary, heavy drinking, the protagonist, J. D. Hindle, wakes up on the couch in the living room of his house in a subdivision called Rolling Hills Homes. He has trouble getting his bearings. There are two glasses next to the empty bottle of Jack Daniel's on the coffee table, but J. D. remembers being alone. He seems to have fallen asleep reading True magazine. The voices of a man and woman on television, actors in a situation comedy, at first seem to be talking to him. The sunlight coming through the window hurts his eyes, and J. D. pulls the drapes to darken the room. The doorbell is ringing, and it takes him a few moments to remember that it is Labor Day and that his wife, Carolyn, and children, Ronnie and Ellen, are away in Florida. When he answers the door, he finds a delivery man from a florist with a basket of roses and a printed card that reads, "My deepest sympathy."
This opening situation is charged with implications that the unfolding of the story's plot confirms. Although J. D. convinces the man from the florist's shop, at least initially, that "there's been no death in this family," the deliveries of flowers continue. There are visits from neighbors and friends bearing food and expressing sympathy, for they have seen a newspaper account of the deaths of Carolyn Hindle and her children in Daytona Beach. Their deaths were caused by Hurricane Gloria. J. D. telephones the Breakers Hotel and Mr. Garrett, the local newspaper editor. A telegram sent from Florida that morning, obviously delayed by the weather, lets him cling to the belief that his wife and children are alive. He even accuses his friend Bill Henderson of engineering the whole affair as an elaborate practical joke.
J. D.'s unwillingness to accept the truth, implied by the details of the opening situation, arises from more than normal shock at the news of an accident. As the story develops, other details reveal that J. D.'s marriage was in trouble, and that this is the reason Carolyn took the children and left for Daytona Beach. As he stumbles around the house between telephone calls and trips to the door to receive deliveries of flowers, J. D. reveals his unfamiliarity with his home. He does not know how to operate the kitchen stove, where to find razor blades in the bathroom, or where his clean clothes are kept. Carolyn has always had things ready for him. In this house, their fourth since they were married, he is virtually a stranger. "As second vice-president, perhaps he spent more time away now, more time in the air. Coming home was more and more like an astronaut's re-entry problem."
J. D.'s isolation from his family becomes permanent with the deaths of Carolyn, Ronnie, and Ellen. Acceptance of this fact comes hard. When Mr. Garrett calls back, reporting that the Associated Press confirms all three deaths, J. D. turns on his friend Bill Henderson, who has suggested that J. D. is responsible for the fact that Carolyn and the children were in Florida. Still denying reality, J. D. tells Mrs. Merrill, the PTA president, that Carolyn and the children will be home soon: "They're having a wonderful time in Florida." He also loses control at a call from Gold Seal Portrait Studios, which is trying to sell him a package deal on family photographs; he throws the flowers that have been delivered all over the front lawn; he attempts to break the doorbell with his fist. Finally, he turns off the electric current to stop the chimes, now ringing continuously, and collects the flowers on the lawn before stretching out on the living room carpet for a nap.
Rather than obliterating the facts that he wants to avoid, this period of sleep reconciles J. D. to the deaths of Carolyn and the children. The climax of the story occurs when he recalls something his wife said on the way to the airport the day before. Trying to explain her need to go away, Carolyn told him, "Something is happening to me. I'm dying, very, very slowly; do you understand that, Jay? Our life. It's the way we live, somehow the way we live." He had not understood her words at the time. His feeling then was relief at the prospect of being alone in the house for a few days. Turning on the electric power again, thereby reactivating the doorbell, J. D. goes to the door of his home and looks at the houses in the darkened subdivision spread below him. He looks up at the moon, but he cannot see the face of the man in it. Continuing to look at the heavens, however, he sees the faces of Carolyn, Ronnie, and Ellen in the stars. At this moment, in September, "snow began to fall, as though the stars had disintegrated into flakes."