This is a photo of one of my daughters (Eleanor) with a makeshift bouquet we made from the miscellaneous wild and nurtured flowers, weeds, and such from our yard. My grandfather, in the 70s, grew hundreds of Dahlias every year (on the same land we live on now) and gave them away to churches and neighbors. We didn’t meet – but so many of my childhood memories, the home I grew up in, the name I carry proudly – seeded from his hard work as a farmer, father, roofer, and lover of bees and flowers. My daughters and I grow dahlias, his favorite flower of all to grow, to connect with him and recognize the hard work he put in to grow such beautiful flowers. We made dahlia bouquets to give away to Bayne descendants – all of whom were around when my Grandfather was growing his dahlias.