When We Plant Sunshine

Happy Birthday Sammy.

Here is a story I wrote just for you.

I love you so very much.

Sammy’s Garden of Miracles

by

Grandma Baadsgaard

When Sammy woke up one morning, sunlight streamed into his room like sheets of honey. Sammy opened his mouth into a big yawn and felt the shimmering rays tickle his tongue.

“Sunlight is sweet as honey,” Sammy thought smacking his lips. “I will capture one ray of sunshine and plant it in my garden.”

So Sammy held his lips tightly together until he reached a warm spot of earth in his backyard. Then he leaned down close to the brown sod and listened.

He heard the earth people under the warm ground and they were humming, “Sammy is here. Something wonderful is about to begin.”

Sammy smiled for he heard many unseen friends. Then Sammy brushed away the earth and made a tiny hole with his cupped hand. Next he parted his lips ever so slightly. Out came the ray of sunshine so quickly he had to immediately blow the shimmering wave into the rich brown earth before it flew away. Then he gently patted the dirt over the warm place creating a small mound.

Sammy was a wise boy who knew that the earth was full of wonders. Each day Sammy returned to his mound of earth and dreamed a new dream.

Each day Sammy said, “There is magic in sunshine if you plant it just so and never stop believing something magical will grow.”

Then one day something happened that made Sammy feel sad inside. His cousin Caleb died. On the evening after Caleb’s funeral, Sammy was looking out the window into his back yard. He watched as the blue dark faded into black. Just then he saw something shining on his mound of earth. Sammy ran outside to take a look. It was a moonbeam streaming down from the sky in the black night. Sammy looked up.

“Caleb?” Sammy asked as his face was bathed in moonlight. “Can you see me?”

Suddenly the tiny moonbeam filled all the dark space all around him. Then Sammy’s mother walked through the back door and knelt beside him.

“Will I ever see Caleb again?” Sammy asked his mother.

“Every person has a shiny spirit inside their body,” his mother said. “That spirit is what makes our body dance and sing and play. Caleb’s spirit is not inside his body right now but it will be again someday. We won’t be able to see him until we die, but he will keep sending us sunshine every time we open our hearts and let his warm inside.”

Sammy wiped his tears then took his mother’s hand. Then they slowly walked back toward the house.

“I miss Caleb,” Sammy said.

“Me too,” his mother answered.

When Sammy woke up the next morning all the dark was gone. Sunshine was streaming into this room like rays of honey once again. Sammy felt the shimmering light tickle his tongue. Then he remembered the ray of sunshine he planted in his back yard. He jumped from his bed and raced to the back door. As he swung the door wide open, Sammy wondered for a moment if he were dreaming. He rubbed his eyes and looked again. Sammy’s entire back yard was filled with bright and shining yellow daffodils and tulips swaying gently in the morning breeze.

“There is magic in sunshine if you plant it just so and never stop believing,” Sammy whispered, “something magical will grow.”

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