The end of “a Romeo-and-Juliet story kind of romance” back in 2020 left 21-year-old science and math major Ailton Alanya devastated, especially because the high school relationship ended because “his religious parents didn’t want us together.”
But 4 years later, the pain of a love cut abruptly is flowering into something beautiful on campus, the birth of the Nectar Club.
“My mother always told me to place a deeper meaning in nature… Touching soil, the act of gardening itself, I believe it can be very therapeutic,” said Alanya, who recently founded the club based on the objective “to heal by healing.”
The Howell resident started working in the Shoprite floral section right after high school, further leaning into the importance of connecting with nature.
“Two years after graduation, I started Brookdale in 2022. Even through processing my situation, I made friends here at Brookdale,” said Alanya, who began to ponder both ways to personally heal and how to help others.
“If there is a way to help others, I can,” said Alanya, who said his past heartache and pain from childhood acted as “fuel to start the club.”
Additional fuel and opportunity came from a family connection with a local morgue that often discarded fresh cut flowers after they were barely used.
By offering second use of memorial service flowers, the new flower arrangements “bring joy and beauty to others,” Alanya said. The Nectar Club offers students a chance to reuse, repurpose and rearrange the flowers, so they can be enjoyed by additional individuals.
“I try to build ornaments, for them (the flowers and the recently deceased individual) to know that I respect them.”
In the future, Alanya plans to have a fundraiser for Compassionate Friends for Grieving Families. This organization is dedicated to helping families that have suffered the loss of a child.
The Nectar Club meets 11:45 a.m. every Thursday in the Caroline Huber Wellness Center. To learn more about or contribute to the Compassionate Friends for Grieving search www.compassionatefriends.org.