He was going to report a girl for stealing her sunflowers, he ended up crying when he found out... 🌻 I am forty years old and living alone. I always lived alone, actually, even if my bank account says otherwise. Money fills rooms, not hearts, and I learned that late.
The only sacred thing I had was the garden.
My mother planted it twenty five years ago. Every sunflower, every inch of dirt, it was her. When he died, I swore I'd take care of him like it was his grave, because somehow it was. That garden was the last thing that was left of her smell, her hands, her laugh.
That's why when the sunflowers started disappearing, something in me broke.
One per day. For two weeks. I counted and counted like an obsession. Installed cameras, checked perimeter, called private security. People working for me would look at me weird, like *"this man has three companies and he's crying for flowers"*. They didn't understand. No one would understand.
Until one morning I saw her.
A baby girl. Eight years, maybe nine. Worn out sneakers, messy braids, a backpack with a unicorn drawing. He entered the side of the garden with a tranquility that enraged me, as if it were his house, and cut a sunflower with both hands. Careful, that's right. With a delicacy I wasn't expecting.
But still the rage won over me.
*" Hey! *, I screamed, and ran out. She took a jump and started running. I followed her. I know it must have been a ridiculous spectacle, a man in a suit chasing a creature down three blocks, but I didn't care. I wanted an explanation. I wanted something back that can't be returned.
I followed her until she walked through the glass doors of a public hospital.
Pulled up at the driveway My heart was beating fast, half of the race, half of something I still didn't understand. I searched for her with my eyes among people and found her at the bottom of a hallway, in front of an open door.
I got closer slowly.
I saw her walk into the room. I stayed at the threshold, invisible to them.
The woman in the bed had no hair. I was wired up to serums, monitors, noise-making machines that I know well, the same noises I heard for months before I lost my mother. His eyes were closed until he felt the presence of the babe.
—*Mom* —said the little one, and she spread the sunflower to her like an Olympic trophy—. *I brought you the most beautiful flower. They're special you know? If I carry you everyday, you'll heal. That's what the garden lady says in my book. *
The woman opened her eyes. He smiled in a way I’ll never be able to fully describe.
—* Thank you My Love. *
And he put her in a hug. With tubes, with tiredness, with everything. He put her in a hug.
That's when I couldn't anymore.
I leaned against the hallway wall and cried. I cried like I didn't even cry at my mom's funeral, because then I was paralyzed, but this caught me off guard, caught me completely down. I was crying and couldn't stop and didn't care if anyone saw me.
Babe came out and found me there.
She turned out white. Her lip was shaking. He squeezed the unicorn backpack against his chest like it was a shield.
—*Don't take me prisoner* —whispered—. *Please. I know I robbed But my momma... if I bring her the flower she says she's getting better and I believe you, sir, I truly believe you. *
I knelt down to meet her height.
I don't know what his face was. I guess it's weird because she was looking at me without understanding.
—* What's your name? * —I asked him.
—*Valentine. *
—*Valentine. * —Took a deep breath—. *Those sunflowers were my mom's too. And she's gone. *
Baby girl got her eyes wide open
—* Did he die? *
—*Sí.*
—*And you brought her flowers? *
I broke down again. I just nailed it.
There was a silence of those that is worth more than any word. After Valentina did something I didn't expect: she took my hand. A tiny dirty hand of garden soil, grabbing mine.
—*Able his mom sent my mom flowers from heaven* —he said, very serious—. *Able they know each other up there and agreed. *
That day I talked to doctors. I paid for everything. I moved Valentina's mom to my private clinic, the best in the country. The best oncologists. The best treatment.
Nine months later, she was healed.
And I... I was in love. From a woman who fought to live with the same strength her daughter fought to save her. From a person who raised that amazing creature alone, sick, never giving up.
Valentina has her own corner in the garden today. Plant what you want. He says that when the new sunflowers grow, he will distribute them to all the hospitals in the neighborhood.
My mom I'm sure would love her.
My mother planted it twenty five years ago. Every sunflower, every inch of dirt, it was her. When he died, I swore I'd take care of him like it was his grave, because somehow it was. That garden was the last thing that was left of her smell, her hands, her laugh.
That's why when the sunflowers started disappearing, something in me broke.
One per day. For two weeks. I counted and counted like an obsession. Installed cameras, checked perimeter, called private security. People working for me would look at me weird, like *"this man has three companies and he's crying for flowers"*. They didn't understand. No one would understand.
Until one morning I saw her.
A baby girl. Eight years, maybe nine. Worn out sneakers, messy braids, a backpack with a unicorn drawing. He entered the side of the garden with a tranquility that enraged me, as if it were his house, and cut a sunflower with both hands. Careful, that's right. With a delicacy I wasn't expecting.
But still the rage won over me.
*" Hey! *, I screamed, and ran out. She took a jump and started running. I followed her. I know it must have been a ridiculous spectacle, a man in a suit chasing a creature down three blocks, but I didn't care. I wanted an explanation. I wanted something back that can't be returned.
I followed her until she walked through the glass doors of a public hospital.
Pulled up at the driveway My heart was beating fast, half of the race, half of something I still didn't understand. I searched for her with my eyes among people and found her at the bottom of a hallway, in front of an open door.
I got closer slowly.
I saw her walk into the room. I stayed at the threshold, invisible to them.
The woman in the bed had no hair. I was wired up to serums, monitors, noise-making machines that I know well, the same noises I heard for months before I lost my mother. His eyes were closed until he felt the presence of the babe.
—*Mom* —said the little one, and she spread the sunflower to her like an Olympic trophy—. *I brought you the most beautiful flower. They're special you know? If I carry you everyday, you'll heal. That's what the garden lady says in my book. *
The woman opened her eyes. He smiled in a way I’ll never be able to fully describe.
—* Thank you My Love. *
And he put her in a hug. With tubes, with tiredness, with everything. He put her in a hug.
That's when I couldn't anymore.
I leaned against the hallway wall and cried. I cried like I didn't even cry at my mom's funeral, because then I was paralyzed, but this caught me off guard, caught me completely down. I was crying and couldn't stop and didn't care if anyone saw me.
Babe came out and found me there.
She turned out white. Her lip was shaking. He squeezed the unicorn backpack against his chest like it was a shield.
—*Don't take me prisoner* —whispered—. *Please. I know I robbed But my momma... if I bring her the flower she says she's getting better and I believe you, sir, I truly believe you. *
I knelt down to meet her height.
I don't know what his face was. I guess it's weird because she was looking at me without understanding.
—* What's your name? * —I asked him.
—*Valentine. *
—*Valentine. * —Took a deep breath—. *Those sunflowers were my mom's too. And she's gone. *
Baby girl got her eyes wide open
—* Did he die? *
—*Sí.*
—*And you brought her flowers? *
I broke down again. I just nailed it.
There was a silence of those that is worth more than any word. After Valentina did something I didn't expect: she took my hand. A tiny dirty hand of garden soil, grabbing mine.
—*Able his mom sent my mom flowers from heaven* —he said, very serious—. *Able they know each other up there and agreed. *
That day I talked to doctors. I paid for everything. I moved Valentina's mom to my private clinic, the best in the country. The best oncologists. The best treatment.
Nine months later, she was healed.
And I... I was in love. From a woman who fought to live with the same strength her daughter fought to save her. From a person who raised that amazing creature alone, sick, never giving up.
Valentina has her own corner in the garden today. Plant what you want. He says that when the new sunflowers grow, he will distribute them to all the hospitals in the neighborhood.
My mom I'm sure would love her.
