B.C. mom honours late daughter's birthday with friends committing acts of kindness in her name

Sarah Hughes is preparing a bountiful birthday surprise for her friend Shannon Pearson.

“Flowers make people happy,” Sarah says with a smile, arranging hundreds of bright petals into bold bouquets.

The professional florist says Shannon has always made people smile too.

“She’s the warmest, kindest person ever,” Sarah says.

Shannon’s mom, Sarala Godine, says her daughter’s been that way since she was a young child.

“(Shannon) couldn’t say, ‘Happy birthday,’ so she’d run around the house saying, ‘Happy to be! Happy to be!’” Sarala recalls. “Which is how she lived her life — happy to be.”

Happy to be a friend spreading smiles. Happy to be a mom raising three children. Happy to just be living, even when she faced dying.

“She hung on to that belief until the end came,” Sarala says.

Shannon died from cancer at 42.

“I just miss her,” Sarah starts crying. “So often, I just dial her number and then remember she’s gone.”

Four years after her daughter’s death, Sarala can’t forget that she’s facing another one of Shannon’s birthdays without her.

“The grief changes, but it doesn’t stop,” Sarala says. “When it hits, it’s like a knife.”

But instead of succumbing to her feelings of pain and anger, Sarala has chosen to transform them. She’s invited Shannon’s friends to mark her late daughter’s birthday by spreading joy and kindness.

“To go out and think of some act they can do in the world on her birthday in Shannon’s name,” Sarala says.

On this Jan. 28, more than 100 people around the world started sharing what they do on the Shannon’s Day of Kindness Facebook page. The acts of kindness include buying meals for families in need, gifting coffee to strangers behind them in line, and donating to charities that would have been close to Shannon’s heart.

Sarah is randomly placing buckets filled with her bouquets around town. They are being offered for free and include a card about Shannon and an invitation to pay it forward.

“Shannon would be happy that she’s still bringing love and light and kindness to people,” Sarah says, through tears.

She says that Shannon would also be grateful that she’s making one of her family’s worst days of the year, feel like the one best.

“It feels like Christmas seeing and reading about what everyone is doing,” Sarala says. “I know that she’s alive for so many other people because they’re all thinking about her and keeping her spirit out in the world.”

It’s a spirit that’s “happy to be” giving, “happy to be” kind and “happy to be” just like Shannon.