It's the Great SunButter, Charlie Brown

 

“It's the Great SunButter, Charlie Brown”

Back in 2013, I was one of the original SunButter bloggers. This is one of my favorite articles that I wrote for them. When I went to find the link, I almost started to cry seeing that there is no longer a SunButter blog page. Luckily, I saved it! 

(Fun Fact: I wrote this article while waiting to get my oil changed in just 20 minutes. I had the idea and it just spilled out). So happy to reshare this with everyone- happy October :)

The average 4-year-old asks 637 questions a day. So when you hear “Where does SunButter come from?” from anyone—of any age—consider this answer:

Long ago, there was a large patch of unclaimed land that was barren and sad. Several of the children nearby would pass and even play on this lonely area until one day, a child stopped to look at it. He

wondered why it was so lonely and empty. He turned to his mother and said "Mommy, do you know what I see here? I see a field of sunflowers." His mother smiled, patted him on the head and said "That's a wonderful idea."

As Bobby grew, so did his ideas and kindness. So did his awareness of food allergies. Many of his friends couldn’t have peanut butter or candy; they had to be really careful at school, summer camps and especially on Halloween Night, with all the candy handed out.

Bobby was always looking for ways to help bring happiness to others. He planted a garden at home but still, he knew that tall, gigantic sunflowers would truly bring happiness. After many years of hard work, he bought that patch of land and began his planting. The sunflowers grew, reaching to the sun. More and more children and families stopped to enjoy them. Bobby stood back and enjoyed it, too:  the sound of sheer happiness on late summer days.

Then, one day, an odd thing happened. After so many people ran through the fields of sunflowers, the seeds began to scatter onto the ground. "Don't eat that, it's dirty" said the mothers. And so, the seeds stayed. The flowers began to droop and Bobby knew something must be done.

By Halloween Night, he had a plan 

As most of the other children were out trick-or-treating, Bobby snuck into the darkened sunflower patch.  “My sunflowers are sad,” he said quietly. “There are some children that are sad tonight, too, because they cannot trick-or-treat because they have food allergies. Let me do something to make it better."

Late that night, Bobby saw them. He rubbed his eyes and shook his head but they were there: they were real fairies. What were they doing? Slowly, he sat up, watching the glimmer of their movements as they picked up the seeds and placed them into their sacks. "What are you doing with all of the sunflower
seeds?" asked Bobby. One of them stopped, placed a single finger across her lips, “shhhhh” and flew away. Then, just like that, they were gone.

No longer haunted by food allergies

The next morning, children in Bobby's town woke up to jars of deliciously nut-free spread just for them. On the label, just a few words: SunButter sunflower seed spread. The children with nut allergies thanked Bobby, their parents hugged him, and he simply smiled, hugged them back and returned to his sunflower patch. All of the seeds were gone, but he was ready to plant again in the spring.

To this day, the fairies still visit the sunflower patch on Halloween Night to collect the sunflower seeds and make more SunButter. Have you tried a bit of the magic yourself?