Obviously, This Isn't Over

We finally cut down our dried-up sunflower bloom and roast the seeds.

"Well, we did it," I sigh to my daughter. It's bittersweet; the whole journey ends.

I turn to cut down the large stem, but I can't do it. 

I keep the tall stem of the sunflower just growing in that pot--without the glorious bloom--because I can't bring myself to see it all end. My youngest planted that sunflower from a tiny seed in the kitchen. We watched that daily journey of transformation from seed to huge sunflower. We loved visiting that bloom every day.

And now it's over, the daily examination of its progress, the hope. 

So I leave the tall stem, just sitting there, with brown leaves rising up and down the stalk. It's starting to shrivel near the base.

Earlier this week, however, we notice something growing on that stalk.

It's another sunflower.

When they say it's hopeless and that the journey's over, they haven't seen my sunflower. It's the same lesson I learned two years ago when I started to feel old.

Keep yourself planted, even if the big bloom is gone. You never know when a new one will pop up.

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I love the bright yellow sunflower, especially as October approaches!