Story by Sophia

I never really thought much about sunflowers until my dear friend Karen was in hospital. The last time she had come to my house, she showed me photos of herself at a friends wedding, holding sunflowers. Then, that same friend brought her silk sunflowers and put them by her bed and everyone said how they made Karen's Corner look cheerful and hopeful, during the five months she was in hospital. Karen was in a coma, and when she awoke, she smiled at the sight of her sunflowers. Sadly, she passed away a year and a half ago, and at her funeral, there were sunflowers. Sunflowers have taken on a special meaning for all of us in this hard time. I see them and smile and think that God made them as a special encouragement.
The Karen Fund

Sunflower Story by Marianne:

I have adopted the sunflower as my signature symbol. It reminds me of my son who stood proud and tall and is a reflection of God's love. My 19 year old son died November, 1999 after a 2 1/2 year battle with cancer. Despite his illness he never surrendered. He lived life everyday to the fullest. He was a second year student at the University of Virginia when he passed. I am a very proud mother who chooses to spell her sunflower--sonflower. Thanks for letting me share.

Story by Kristi Huffman:

I also am a sunflower fanatic, especially if they are against the sky or another blue background.  My kitchen is sunflowers and many, many other things.  I especially like sunflowers because they just seem to be something extra special from the Lord.  Their leaves are heart shaped, they stand proud and strong with their faces raised to God, and when they are done, they bow their heads. 

I'm pretty picky about my sunflower pictures.  I don't really care for Monet's or Van Gough's renditions.  I guess my biggest testimony to my sunflower passion is the switch plate cover in my dining room.  It's a bad place for a switch plate cover so I covered it with sunflower magnets!  There are only three alike on the whole thing, and if I do say so myself, I think it looks pretty nifty.

Story by Sun City Sue:

When I was in about the third grade we had a jungle of sunflowers at the back of our property. A stray mother cat chose to have her litter of kittens way back in the sunflowers. We could not get through the sunflowers to get to the kittens. So when the kittens finally were old enough to come out on their own, they were not too tame. Not only that they had fleas. One kitten was white and covered with fleas. One of the men that worked for my dad took the little white kitten home for his daughter. They got rid of the fleas and she named the kitten Jesus. So Jesus was saved. I don't remember any of the other kittens except the little white one with fleas. This all happened about 1947.

Story by Beckie (from Rochester, N.Y.)

WHEN I TURNED 19 I GOT A BEAUTIFUL PUPPY FROM THE POUND AND NAMED HIM "SUNFLOWER" BECAUSE OF MY LOVE OF THESE FLOWERS (HE'S 6 NOW)  ANYWAY, I HAD BEEN RENTING THIS HOUSE FOR 3 YEARS AND GROWING THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SUNFLOWERS-RED ONES, MAMMOTHS, CLASSIC, HYBRIDS, AND DISKS.  I STARTED A TREND IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD BECAUSE I WAS LIVING ON THE BORDER OF THE SUBURBS AND THE CITY-THESE FOLKS NEVER HAD ANYONE LIVING BY THEM THAT PLANTED SO MANY SUNFLOWERS AND SO MANY DIFFERENT KINDS.  THE SAD PART OF THIS IS, MY SUNFLOWERS WERE MY ART WORK AND SPIRITUALITY-AND SUDDENLY I HAD TO MOVE BECAUSE MY LANDLORD WANTED TO LIVE IN HER HOUSE AGAIN- NOW, MY FLOWERS WILL COME UP AGAIN NEXT YEAR BUT SHE DOESN'T LIKE THEM, SO SHE WILL PROBABLY RIP THEM DOWN!!  NOW, I KNOW SUNFLOWERS ARE THE EASIEST FLOWER TO GROW, BUT IF YOU HAVE A LOVE FOR THEM, YOU WILL UNDERSTAND WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT. 

Nature's Masterpiece
by DraigGoch

It all started when I was about six years old.  My sister and I had a friend who had a passion for birds, and would feed them with sunflower seeds.  I decided to broaden my horizons, and after graduating from making mud pies, I planted the sunflower seed.  At the time we lived in a house that had a garden that was about the size of a postage stamp which was surrounded with an ugly eight foot wooden fence.  After much care and attention my sunflower began to grow.  It grew, and it grew, and it grew.  It grew so big that very soon it was bigger than I was,  I was so chuffed that I could accomplish something like this, not to mention all by myself.  It transcended our ugly dark, dingy little garden into a beautiful sanctuary.  I still have the picture that my Mum took of me alongside my beautiful creation.  Anyway, I think this is probably one of the main reasons I have such a passion for sunflowers, as it reminds me of my childhood growing up in Wales.  And even now as an adult my motif  is still "Sunflowers" consequently there is not a room in my home that does not have something with a sunflower on it.

Story by Bis(from Rio,Brazil)

I love everything about sunflowers. They are so beautiful ,so happy that it is impossible to describe. I especially like them because they look like the sun and they pass me some kind of positive energy .Last year, I had some moments of depression and loneliness. One day, i found myself really down, looking through the window of my room and crying a lot ,when I saw a sunflower in my neighbor's yard. I suddenly started to feel better, and that yellow flower cheered me. I've never felt that sad again and now whenever I look at a sunflower ,I smile.

I AM Sunflower
(Sarah AKA Sunflower, Bremerton, WA)

I work at a summer camp and have for the past 2 years as a counselor, assistant counselor and kitchen assistant. At our camp we have "camp names".

Can you guess what mine is? its "Sunflower"! Yes, I am called Sunflower for 3 months out of the year. I sign papers sunflower, the kids address their letters to me as Sunflower, I AM Sunflower :-) During camp and the few weeks following I have caught myself signing checks with "sunflower"! I get some odd looks, and when me and my camp buds are hanging out, they call me sunflower, no matter if we are in a public place or not, can you imagine the looks :-) So anyways, that is how obsessed I am, I have chosen my name to be sunflower :-)

Here is my sunflower story:

Between my junior and senior years in high school I went to a Student Council camp called "Basic". The camp was divided into 10 mock student councils and we were to function as a team to solve problems. Each council represented a mock school and we had to come up with a school mascot. We came up with the fighting sunflowers because our "town" had a been founded around the sunflower seed market. I learned a lot from that camp, gained a lot of self-confidence in myself and my abilities. That's why I love sunflowers.