September is Sunflowers

I like flowers. 

Especially when they are freshly cut and come in a vase for my kitchen or bedside table. 

The reasons for this should be perfectly clear, right? 

I mean, you don't have to plant them, or water them, or prune them. 

Or kill them. 

They just die on their own like they're supposed to. 

There are no unrealistic expectations for cut flowers. 

Or for me and my inability to keep plants and small children alive at the same time. 

And bonus!! They are beautiful and bursting with cheeriness! 

One day I thought it would be fun to come up my very own Flower of the Month Club. 

You know, for when I live in a mansion with a butler. 

And a personal chef. 

And my own full-size gym, equipped with a very attractive personal trainer. 

When I get flowers in a vase for my kitchen or bedside table delivered to my door several times a month. 

Some of these were really easy to figure out.

Like April, August, and November. 

But I had a lot of trouble with others.

Like October, January and February. 

For a full year I paid attention to every kind of flower everywhere, as I tried to finish my own game. 

(Obsessive. I know.) 

September was one of those months that started out being hard to find a flower for. 

Until one day, on a run, I rounded a corner and saw man sprinting up the trail with a big bouquet of sunflowers. 

I was surprised to see that they were not cut. 

Instead they had been dug from the earth. 

And their dirty roots were flailing in the wind. 

I have no idea where he got these flowers. 

I don't usually take time to dig up flowers while I'm on my morning run.

But apparently he did. And he was grinning ear to ear about it. 

So were the flowers. 

And that's when I decided it...

September is Sunflowers.

That was a year ago. 

It's September again and sunflowers are growing wild just about everywhere I turn. 

I have been watching them very closely. 

And they are truly remarkable! 

You should know why...

Even at a time when the change of seasons can bring damaging winds or hail... 

     they stand strong. 

If temperatures dive to thirty-five degrees or rise to ninety-five degrees...

      they stand strong. 

When it rains too much or doesn't rain at all...

      they stand strong. 

They are bright. 

They are cheerful. 

They are beautiful. 

And as summer closes, fall settles, and winter approaches, they are hopeful.

      They are everything I want to be.

I have not cut any sunflowers for my table. 

I thought I wanted to, but every time I have tried, something deep inside cries resistance. 

So instead, I have quietly watched them thrive.

      And be all that they were meant to be.

Soon it will turn cold. Too cold even for sunflowers. 

But I know another September will come. 

And when next summer leans into fall, 

Instead of lamenting, I will rejoice.

Because...

September is Sunflowers.