This is my final post about my trip to Ohio, and it happens to be the first thing I did. Have you ever seen millions of sunflowers next to each other in one spot?
These gorgeous yellow seed bearing stalks were strategically planted right off the highway in an attempt to bring awareness to the world of children’s glioma cancer.
Maria McNamara was seven years old when she lost her battle with this cancer, but her story lives on within these flowers. The Prayers From Maria foundation has awarded close to half a million dollars in grants towards finding a cure.
Talk about finding optimism in a tragic situation.
I’ve never been a big flower lover, but the story behind this field of flowers was something I had to be apart of. I’ll never look at sunflowers the same.
These flowers not only brought to life the stories of children battling this cancer, but life was buzzing in and around the flowers too.
I find it fascinating to watch the life cycles of bugs and plants. Without them we wouldn’t have all this beauty. Does anyone else think it’s cool how people and bugs work together? Just me? I watched a lot of science shows growing up…
This beautiful display of love and awareness allowed me to reflect on what is really important in my life. Sometimes the things I find to be problematic really aren’t that bad, and sometimes good things come from tragic situations.
After reading about Maria’s story I learned that she showed strength and dignity while battling through her last days, offering prayers for other children battling this cancer. She was always putting others first despite her own struggles.
There’s a valuable lesson right there.
Life is what you make of it, so make it count.
No questions, but do something today to make an impact on someone else.
Blissfulbritt 
38 thoughts on “Prayers From Maria”
shellybartz
This is so powerful. Thank you for sharing it! I will share it to SeeBeautiful if it’s okay with you. They are always sharing Beautiful… They’ll love this 🌻🌻🌻
Brittany
Of course, share away! 🙂
Amy
Thank you for sharing this story! It’s really touching and inspiring. 🙂 When I was a sophomore in college, I went running in the park area behind our apartment complex basically every day. If I took a bridge across the old riverbed, I could run on a dirt path that bordered these humongous fields. Most of them contained corn, but a few were acres and acres of sunflowers. I was always amazed by how tall they grew and their gorgeous, friendly color!
Shawna
your photos are stunning as always, my love. you have such a knack for capturing the heart of a place and making us wish we were there with you. thanks for sharing this — it’s beautiful. you’re beautiful. i’m such a fan of you. ❤
Brittany
You know what they say…you attract what you project which means YOU ARE A BEAUTY TOO. It’s true. Yup. ❤
Laur
Love this message. ❤
joanfrankham
What a beautiful memorial to a brave little girl.
allisonfiorini
Seriously I want to be your friend and road trip buddy in real life. The pictures and the places you find…seriously amazing!!!
Brittany
Life should be one big adventure in my book! 🙂
fionajarrett
Such a beautiful way to remember someone and this certainly makes you stop and appreciate what you have. Awesome photos of the sunflowers, makes me feel happy to just looking at them on a screen so I can only imagine how great it was to see them in reality 😀
Ellie
You take beautiful photos. I bet Maria would be happy you found her memorial 🙂
Brittany
Thank you, the iPhone is a magical device. 🙂
Luv What You Do
A gorgeously written post on a difficult subject.
Thanks for sharing!
Nicole @ Foodie Loves Fitness
What a beautiful sunflower field with a beautiful message!
An Unrefined Vegan
I just saw this on the internet! Beautiful! I love this expression of hope and strength and it’s SO COOL that you got to see it during its peak blooming.
Brittany
Isn’t it cool? It was funny because right before my trip I typed “Cleveland” into the tag section of Instagram and this was one of the first things I saw. I hadn’t said a word about it to Meghan, but it was her FIRST idea of things to do. It was meant to be. 🙂
Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy
What a lovely story. I am definitely not going to look at sunflowers the same way now either.
Hannah
Gorgeous flowers, and gorgeous post. It’s so sad to read about children dying from cancer, but what an amazing tribute. I just love sunflowers.
Side note: These are one of the only flowers we feel comfortable bringing in the house because we know they’re safe for cats. We call them funflowers 🙂
Brittany
Funflowers, I love it!
katalysthealth
What a beautiful dedication. Talk about sharing beauty through pain. My daddy used to have a sunflower patch in his backyard, so I grew up playing in them. They are without a doubt one of my favorite flowers because of that. I find them so incredibly bold, strong, yet delicate at the same time
Meghan@CleanEatsFastFeets
This was so cool. Every time I scroll through my phone and see these pictures, it brings a huge smile to face. Also thanks for cropping out my boobs. It is much appreciated.
Brittany
The cleavage photos are for my eyes only. 😉
thehealthyfoodblogger
I loved your pictures of the the sunflowers!
familyrulesbyplainjane
Beautiful post, beautiful photos!
Cynths
Wonderful story. Thanks for sharing.
Jane
A beautiful, story, Brittany. Thanks for sharing. By the way your smile makes me think of sunflowers. You always look like you’re glowing. 🙂
Brittany
Oh Jane, you always make me blush. Thank you love. ❤
Jade
such a beautiful story
Jess @hellotofit
Loved reading this 🙂 and you’re so right – good things can come out of tragedies.
Amy @ A Desert Girl
The sunflowers are beautiful and so is the message behind their placement and planting. ❤
It is amazing to think about how we're all connected – the flowers, the bugs, humans…. It's a very intricate jigsaw puzzle and so, so perfect.
stateeats
Beautiful story and gorgeous photos!! – Kat
Deepta S
What a beautiful post!! Not only are those sunflowers absolutely stunning, so is that story. Thanks for sharing.
Melanie
Oh those sunflowers are beautiful!!! I love that they were planted there on purpose and for such a great cause. Thanks for sharing! Your pictures are all so gorgeous too!!
P
Looks like such a beautiful place! Beautiful story ❤
whostardis
beautiful flowers made even more so by a beautiful story. what a great way to keep the memory of someone alive.
jejansonius
Beautifully said my lady! I LOVE SUNFLOWERS!
Rach @ This Italian Family
Oh wow, what an incredible story. I can see why you stopped to spend some time with these sunflowers. So beautiful!
The Vegan 8
Wow. What an incredible story and inspiration and these pics. STUNNING. Those sunflowers are absolutely gorgeous.