Talia was stunned when she saw how well the sunflowers had grown.
It had been a few weeks since she visited the house her grandmother had left her when she died.

Trying to fix the house and move in was too painful right now. She kept telling her mother, “One day, Mom, one day.”

As a little child, she watched her grandmother, Mariana, cook traditional Italian meals while recounting tales of her journey to this new land she would be calling home.

She told Talia, “We traveled by boat for weeks on a crowded ship.
Many hungry immigrants had few belongings. The small number of sunflower seeds she brought to eat was almost gone by the time they arrived.

Mariana was bewildered by the new language, new customs, and their style of clothing.

She planted the leftover sunflower seeds from her journey to remember the home she had left behind.

They grew tall and massive compared to the ones in Italy.

Talia never forgot her grandmother’s love of sunflowers.

She remembered her smile was as big as a sunflower.

Talia planted sunflowers at her grave.

2022©Isadora Delavega

Crimson Creative Challenge – #191

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