Each morning when I wake up, I enjoy coffee my husband makes. He’s pretty sure he is THE coffee aficionado in our home. A retired engineer, he carefully crafts the delicious cup of roasted beans I enjoy upon waking up. I open the kitchen window blinds and look out at our garden. He has been planting sunflowers in a spot that frames that window because he knows how much I enjoy looking at them. During the dog days of summer, I offer you my thoughts on sunflowers and a tribute to passion and purpose.
Sunflowers and Nature’s Beauty
I was born and raised in Kansas. The state flower is the sunflower. This quote is from the Kansas Magazine:
A cultural symbol throughout the ages – of faith, longevity, healing, happiness and good luck…
The sunflowers in our garden rise to as tall as nine feet, reaching to the sun for nourishment. They are so tall they rise above our wooden fence for the neighbors to enjoy. The stalks are strong with fine bristles. Although we are in a residential neighborhood, we live in a community grounded in agriculture. My husband enjoys organic gardening since retirement from a very intense and productive career. He leaves the sunflower stalks to nourish the garden through the winter. They stay in our garden all year round.
The vibrant yellow flower is what I wake up to each morning while sipping coffee. It is calming to view them from the window. I sometimes take a break from my desk to stroll out to the garden for my Zen moment to rejuvenate and relax.
The Planting of the Sunflower Seeds
We moved back to the Pacific Northwest a few years after my second breast cancer diagnosis. Our sons live here, and we felt it was important to be closer to family. The rewards have been priceless. We love spending time with both our sons and our grandchildren. Our youngest son was in middle school at the time of my first diagnosis. Not knowing I would have a recurrence; he was living at home both times and was a kind and gentle caregiver. Our oldest son was away for both diagnosis but traveled back each time to be there for me through treatment and surgery. He shares the impact of his experience in this touching blog.
PopPop, the name our grandchildren choose to call my husband, likes to teach them about the soil, the garden, and planting. On a warm spring day, the grandchildren came over for a sleepover with Nanna and PopPop. He kneeled in the dirt with our granddaughter carefully placing the sunflower seeds in her tiny, curious hand. Showing her how to poke a hole in the dirt with her finger, she placed the seed in the dirt carefully covering it with fresh soil.
I find great delight when they come to visit us and one of the first things they do is open the patio door to check on the garden. The sunflowers tower above them and they are in awe of how tall they are. If you look carefully at the photo you can see our grandson in the back part of the garden. He is proud of the worms he finds in the back garden to be placed by the sunflowers and vegetables. PopPop teaches them that the earthworms coexist with the soil nourishing the plants.
Passion and Purpose of the Sunflowers
There is so much about this garden that holds deep meaning for me. The thoughtfulness of my husband planting sunflowers yearly is a tribute of our commitment to each other, through all we have been through not only in our years of marriage but through illness, injury, recovery, and resilience each of our family has met over the years. These sunflowers that reach so high to the sky are an uplifting reminder of what we can endure as a family, as human beings, as those who have walked life’s Journey from the ground up encountering challenges along the way.
We look to symbols, moments, which inspire us. The sunflowers and garden of organic vegetables are there for me. Knowing they are planted with passion and purpose makes them even more special. I love my sunflowers and my family and enjoy watching them grow in their own unique and beautiful ways. I hope someday, our grandchildren will have their own garden and plant sunflowers with passion and purpose as a tribute. That will be my husband’s legacy. It will bring PopPop and me immense joy.