"Flowers always make people better, happier and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine to the soul." - Luther Burbank.

Work to Bernie Hendricks isn't a chore; it's an opportunity help others.

Age to Hendricks isn't a number; it's experience and wisdom.

Flowers to Hendricks aren't merely beautiful; they're gifts from God to be nurtured.

"I never get tired of looking at flowers," said Hendricks. "It doesn't take much to make me happy. We grow flowers with a little help from Him (God). Look what God created. It doesn't get better than that."

Perhaps the most important thing to understand about Hendricks is that she's a unique individual who's living her best possible life. No regrets. No looking back. No excuses.

"The main thing is to be honest and forthright," said Hendricks. "I won't beat around the bush. I just want to be remembered as an upfront and honest person."

But at 84, Hendricks isn't going anywhere any time soon.

Hendricks remains firmly entrenched as part of the management team at Hendricks' Flower Shop, 322 S. Spruce St., Lititz, a local business her husband's parents started. She still works 65 hours a week, because "it's what I want," even though she handed off the day-to-day operations of the mom-and-pop shop to her daughter, SueEllen Hendricks, five years ago.

"I feel great. I'm busier than ever," said Hendricks. "I think you should appreciate everything you do. I'm a consistent worker. I do things and lift things most 84-year-olds can't."

The third-generation Hendricks' Flower Shop was founded in the early 1900s. Over the years, Hendricks' Flower Shop gained two greenhouses - from the original four to six - and a reputation around town for being a fair and caring purveyor of nature's beauty.

Hendricks is much more comfortable talking about the business's place in the community than she is about herself.

"It's not a business to me," said Hendricks. "I love it because it's helping other people. It's a one-of-a-kind place and that makes me happy. I want to be known as a person who helps people, not one who just grabs money."

Born and raised in Lititz, Hendricks has never strayed too far from the town, mainly because home is where the heart is. Thoughts of retirement never enter her mind, not because she wouldn't know what to do with herself, but because she's never known anything else.

"I think one day a hearse will pull up next to the shop, and I think they'll come to get me with my shoes on," she said.

And with a flower in her hand.

For additional information about Hendricks' Flower Shop, go to http://www.hendricksflowershop.com.