Don Jaquish has planted four miles of sunflowers in honour of his late wife, Babbette. Babbette died last November, after battling cancer for nine years. In March of this year, four months after she died, her husband Don found a beautiful letter she had written him, and hidden in a folder, saying, in part:
You move on and live every day. Feel me in the morning air, and when you wake up and make your coffee. I will be there always.
Babette and Don began planting sunflowers four years ago to help others living with cancer. Sunflowers were Babette’s favourite flowers, of which Don said, “they fit her personality. She’d walk into a room and her smile would light up the whole room.”
Don was not the only one enamoured with Babette; he said that others in their area loved her, and opened up the roadside areas of their farms for her sunflowers at whatever price Don deemed fit.
The farm is now run by Don with his step-daughter Jennifer White in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. They will sell their seeds at the end of the season under the name “Babbette’s Seeds of Hope” with a portion of the proceeds going to fund hospitals, cancer research and patient advocacy programs.
Don has opened up the four miles of sunflowers to the public, so those interested can wander through the beautiful flowers while admiring “birds, deer and other wildlife viewing”. It’s a beautiful way to honour the memory of a loved one, and we at PopWrapped wish him, Ms. White and their family the best.
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