Yellow daisy visit

Your Editor got paid a visit by the Yellow Daisy Guy.

Kimball Croft is a former Department of Homeland Security planner who now spends his waning strength trying to bring joy to others. He is recently divorced after 43 years of marriage and on dialysis due to complete renal failure.  And yet he tries to cheer up others in the city of Cody, when it would be so easy to feel sorry for himself.

“I kind of get a kick off bringing daises to people,” Croft said.

He described this as a two-part philosophy.  One is did I do things right, referring to following the rules.  The other is did I do the right thing, which might involve not following the rules.

Formerly known as the “bread guy,” Croft said he used to make and deliver homemade bread but lacks the physical stamina to bake of late.  He switched to yellow daisies to embody his well-wishes as they don’t require much preparation.

Croft said he spends a lot of time on social media and has a growing readership, much of which is on the West Coast.  He said he often gets messaged on social media whom to bring daisies to but often doesn’t know why the person needs cheering up.  Croft told a story about a day that he had no tips, so he brought daisies to a random house.  The residents’ grandmother had died that morning and her favorite flowers turned out to be…yellow daisies.

Last week Croft said he delivered between 30 and 35 daisies, which Albertsons donates.  He said he was running out of energy by Thursday, and he wished for someone to help him prepare the flowers and vases.

“I used to talk a lot about dancing in the rain, but now I am kind of wet and tired so I talk about weathering the storm,” he said, noting that kidney failure changes a person’s personality.

Croft said he is roughly number 100,000 on the donation wait list – and is not at all sure that he will live the five years that that represents.

Thank you for your kindness, Yellow Daisy Guy.