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Smiling Through Your Tears wouldn't have a happy sunflower on the cover were it not for my daughter, Helen and her twin children. Finding a photo for a book about early grief was a challenge, to say the least. A photo of a smiling or crying person was too obvious for me. What could I do? I purchased a sunflower from a garden shop and called my daughter. "Would you photograph a sunflower for me?" I asked.

"I'd be glad to," she replied, and promised to bring her digital camera along when she and the twins came for dinner. The sun was just starting to go down when we went out on the deck to take photos. The twins took turns holding the sunflower against various backgrounds, but the backgrounds were busy and the light wasn't right, so they moved to the front of the house.

I asked Helen to photograph the sunflower against the blue sky. My grandson lay on the sidewalk and held the sunflower, which was as big as a dinner plate, over his head. To get the right camera angla my daughter stretched out on her tummy beside him. Our house is on a corner and driver after driver slowed down to stare at the sight - a prostrate boy with a sunflower over his head, a determined mother with a camera, and a young girl dancing around.

What a sight!

Harriet