It is with both a heavy heart and bittersweet joy that today, I remember Sallie. It’s hard to believe that she passed away five years ago. My husband and I miss her terribly, but at the same time, we are so grateful to have had her in our lives. Sallie brought tremendous joy, fun, and pleasure to us, gave us unconditional love, and is the reason Sunflowers for Sallie is where it is today. Everyone should experience the happiness of having a relationship like the one we shared with our Sallie, and there is not one thing I would change about it, except to wish we could have had her for longer.
As I think about the last five years of uncertain times and chaos, I feel humbled and delighted by the fact that Sallie’s legacy of spreading sunflowers of love and hope to needy gardens has blossomed so large in the lives of many. With the help of a multitude of good and loving people, we have served and shared community and happiness with hundreds of hungry families throughout our area. Thanks to what she gave us and to the assistance of staunch, giving individuals, we have delivered baskets of delicious food to everyone from children to the elderly, brought good cheer and holiday spirits during the Christmas holidays, and done our best to show that the blossoms of love, once planted and prospering, will always spread to everyone around who is eager to welcome and share them. None of this would have occurred without our Sallie, who inspired me, brought me pure delight during hard times, and lives on with every seed of love we plant, in each basket we deliver to someone in need. Therefore, though it is still sad to be without her, I look into the future with hope and anticipation, eager to know where Sunflowers for Sallie will go, how many people we can help, and how many flowers of love all of us can plant within our community.
I thank each and every one of you for your continued support, your belief in this organization, and your honoring of Sallie, who was so special to my family and is the cornerstone for everything we do.