Celeste Caeiro went to work as usual. The store where she worked was completing a year on that day and the owner decided to celebrate it with flowers.
On April 25th, 1974, Well, because there was a revolution going on, the “boss” naturally sent the workers home and offered them the flowers he had bought. On her way home, Celeste is stopped by a “train” of tanks and Chaimites that were heading towards the Carmo’s quarter.
The carnation story starts when a soldier in one of the Chaimites asks Celeste for a cigarette. She had never smoked in her life – with regret on that particular day – but she went looking for a cigar store. Because it was only 8:30 am the stores were still closed, that was the problem. Therefore, she could only give them the carnations she was holding. She gave every carnation she could to everyone she could. The soldiers quickly put their carnations into the muzzles of the rifles. Then, other people saw it and bought carnations to give to the military men.
The rest is history.
