Flourishing through flower therapy

Brooks Floral & Co. workshops provide space to connect and process grief

BY ELICIA HESSELGRAVE SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA

“We laugh, cry and share memories knowing it’s OK to not be OK.” ese are the words of Kaitlin Christenson Austin, a Denverite who started her small oral design business to honor her older brother. Her story is one of healing through owers.

Austin started Brooks Floral & Co. in September 2021, roughly three months after her older brother, Brooks Christenson, died unexpectedly at age 36 when COVID-19 rapidly turned into pneumonia.

“I feel so connected to him through this and I know he is so proud,” Austin said.

Austin grew up in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in a close-knit family of four children. Brooks was the oldest, followed by siblings Jon, Kaitlin and MarieClaire.

Brooks and Kaitlin were connected on a deep level, said their father, Bob Christenson of Sioux Falls.

“Of all the kids, they were the two most bonded by the spirituality of the human condition, and I think (Kaitlin) is expressing that in what she’s doing with owers,” Bob Christenson said.

He added that their bond continues to grow — even now that Brooks is gone.

“ ey had a good relationship,” Bob Christenson said. “ ey still do, because she’s doing these things that involve him.” e workshops promote healing through “ ower therapy,” Austin said.

Austin expanded her business in April 2022 when she opened a studio on South Broadway in Denver’s Platt Park neighborhood. Brooks Floral & Co. specializes in weddings and pop-up events, but it’s the intimate oral design workshops that gives Austin great pride.

She begins each workshop session with her story and the inspiration for Brooks Floral & Co. en she opens the oor to attendees who would like to share a story. Austin believes designing oral arrangements is like meditation because one has to become intentional and re ective. is type of environment has been successful in allowing people to open up, she said. e workshops close with a gift — writing a mantra on a card to set an intention and a reminder for people to see the beauty in themselves. hard.

“Avoiding it doesn’t make it go