This Blog is to reflect on a Family Legend or song or prank or something that is a part of our family that endures and is continued. Because my family is splintered in some ways, many of our family traditions and legends are not so old as in other families. My children made me a blanket for Christmas a few years ago and the blocks contain sayings or reminders of this old man. Some of them, like "shortcut", will have no meaning to others. To my family they are very much a part of who we are. I have chosen a tradition that is repeated year after year with my boys and now with their families. In the fall of the year, as the sunflowers reach their prime, we pick sunflowers and then we get on one knee and we sing " You are my Sunshine, My only Sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray. You'll never know dear, How much I love you. Please don't take my Sunshine away."

This picture is a Teddy Bear Sunflower. It has multiple levels of importance. First, this tradition has caused my beautiful wife Lesa to become fascinated with sunflowers of all kinds. She grows many varieties each year and uses them to decorate about anything. This particular species was found in Cortes, Colorado on a family outing. It contains several layers of significance. These flowers are short and fluffy. The actual flower is very full and we have found that they only enjoy a couple of weeks of vitality. They also remind Lesa of a wonderful outing enjoyed with our kids and grand kids.

This particular species is called a Chocolate Sunflower. It is very large and as it matures, the leaves begin to take on brown colors and the seeds are a brown color as well. Anything that draws attention to sunflowers is a good thing. One year we decided to spread the joy so we went to several widows homes and sang for them after presenting a sunflower from each member of the family. Judging from all the smiles and tears of joy, I believe that it was a great success!

It has become so ingrained into our family fiber that the past few years my wife has received metal artistic sunflowers for Mothers Day. These are just a couple of ones she has been given. This tradition has so much meaning that it is most common to take sunflowers as the flower of choice to place on graves of family members that have passed away. Perhaps the reason that this has taken hold so strongly with my family is because of how much love there is for Lesa and when her family sees the joy this brings to her, they automatically want to repay all that she does for us by making her a little bit happier with a sunflower. Any way you look at it, this is a tradition that I hope lives on for many years in my family.