Conceived and collaboratively written by Therapeutic Program participants in honor of their amazing family members and caregivers. To download and print a copy of the poem with original sunflower artwork created by Schurig Center artists, click here.

Before I was thrown off the path of my life,
I was me and you were you.
Whether you joined this journey before or after,
Thank you dearly for all you do.

You take me out to see
The sea
The Bay
The world
Because of you my isolation has uncurled.

Like a sunflower, you help me expand
my horizons, petal by petal, moment by small moment.

Your allowing me to be steeped in this world is everything.
Everything!

I pet an animal, give it food.
I feel the sandy beach improve my mood.

Like a sunflower
you are biggest when you are slow with me.
Strong in your attention to my pace;
Matching me there you show your grace.

Loving me may sometimes be hard,
yet overall your care for me remains unmarred.
You’ve stood with me after head injury,
even when it’s hard to love myself and not get testy.

Your patience and belief in me are enduring gifts.
Your encouragement fills me even when your presence drifts.
At life’s darkest you wove my past into hopeful future possibility.

>Even in the hospital you made the case.
You said I’m brave, smart, athletic, powerful.

Still you whisper, or shout:
Go for it!
You can do it!

You tell me, told me.
Believe in yourself!
You are a fighter, a competitor!

And oh yeah, you said:
You are darn funny, too.
Silly, special you.

At Schurig we learned a quote
that Simone Weil wrote:
“Attention is the rarest form of generosity,”
she said, not knowing she spoke of your luminosity.

Today I celebrate your care and your heart
Trying to capture them with my art.

Grasping at words like a wishing star,
humbly honoring the Sunflower you are.