Mattie started off his day getting dressed in his mummy costume and headed over to the hospital for a day of festivities. When we arrived, I asked Mattie where he wanted to start the Halloween party activities, in the clinic or upstairs in the childlife playroom. Contrary to my better judgment I did allow Mattie to make this choice for himself. I knew the clinic would probably be overwhelming for him because of the number of children who would be attending and gathering there, but when Mattie selected to start in the clinic I went with it. When we entered the clinic, I could already see Mattie was overwhelmed, but Jenny (thank you!) got him involved in a haunted house popsicle stick craft, and that occupied him for a bit. He then chose to get his face painted with a beautiful black cat. You will see a picture of this below.
After his face painting, my mom and I took Mattie up to the childlife playroom, because I felt that a smaller environment and less chaos would be better for him. Mattie was greeted by Linda and all his "gang" on the fifth floor of the hospital. Mattie entered the playroom, and I immediately noticed that the volunteers knew Mattie. They knew him, but I did not know them. One volunteer, named Ashley, jumped right in and started playing mouse trap with him. In addition, Sally the story lady came over and greeted Mattie and introduced him to her amazing puppet, Ignatius! Ignatius was beautiful. See the picture of Sally, Mattie, and Ignatius below.
Today's parade around the hospital was a well orchestrated event. Linda and her team did a fabulous job. Which was not an easy undertaking, because we traveled in groups, and trying to get a whole group to stay together, especially on small hospital elevators was entertaining. We all got a chuckle on the journey. See some pictures on our excursion around the hospital. Many of the offices in the hospital opened their doors to the kids and greeted them and handed out treats and gifts.
Brandon (Mattie's big buddy) and his mom, Toni! Brandon creatively transformed himself into a pumpkin!
Mattie and Whitney (childlife intern and Mattie Buddy)!
Grammie, Mattie, and Vicki along the Halloween Parade route!
Mattie and his big buddy Brandon!Once the parade was finished, Mattie and the group headed back to the childlife playroom for a party filled with pizza, salad, cookies, and cupcakes. Mattie ate like a champ and even decorated his own cookie. As the afternoon went on, Mattie played Halloween bingo, made a spider craft, and had some good laughs. We participated in a halloween costume contest with the staff, and Mattie and I even guessed the number of jelly beans in a large cup. We came the closest to the correct answer, and we won the halloween cup. However, Mattie just wasn't himself today. He was grumpy and not in the halloween spirit at all. He refused to take pictures for the most part. Though Chris, the wonderful chemistry club fellow was coming at 3pm today to conduct another experiment, Mattie felt that he had enough by 2pm, and we packed up and headed home.
Mattie spent several hours at home, quietly playing with legos, and then when Peter came home we headed off to Zachary's house to go trick or treating. Zachary is Mattie's first preschool buddy and they are very close. Though they do not spend as much time together as they once did, they have a way of picking up where they left off. Thank you Katie for cooking us a lovely dinner, and thank you Sylvia for the wonderful Mexican food. We combined dinners tonight, and we all enjoyed it! Thanks Sylvia for thinking of us. Mattie ate a full plate of Katie's spaghetti and was ready to hit the sidewalks to collect candy (mind you Mattie doesn't like candy, but half the fun is the process, isn't it?!). While trick or treating, Zachary and some of his neighbors who went around with us, were running ahead in excitement from door to door to collect candy. However, Mattie was having a hard time keeping up. Mattie expressed his dissatisfaction and was getting upset. The beauty of what I observed next, I will try to describe. Zachary was absorbing what his mom was saying to him regarding Mattie, and also he was hearing or seeing Mattie's level of frustration. Zachary then told his neighbors that Mattie was his friend, and Mattie couldn't move as fast as them right now, and if they did not like it, they could trick or treat without him. It was almost hard to believe this dialogue was coming from a 6 year old. Because to me this was a very mature and thoughtful comment, and speaks to the strength of their relationship, a relationship that evolved over two years in preschool.
When I see Mattie interacting with his friends. It is always hard, because I know he can't do the things they are doing now, and I know this can upset him at times. But then I also notice that through these rough times, I see the beauty of those around us. Zachary's simple comment today was case in point. Friendship goes beyond one's physical abilities and limitations, and instead is definited by something much greater, such as respect, loyalty, trust, and the sheer enjoyment of being with another person. I observed this tonight. Below you will see some wonderful pictures from tonight.
Zachary (aka Indiana Jones) and Mattie (the "mummy dude," as Zachary called Mattie)
Mattie and Zachary came back home with a basket full of treats. They decided to sort through it, and were so excited by their findings they rolled in their candy! This afternoon, I came back from the hospital in a bit of a funk. Mostly because Mattie's mood sometimes gets the best of me. My lifelong friend, Karen, in NYC, called me and provided me with her good sense of humor. We talked about how Halloween was celebrated at her school, and what costume she wore today for her students. Karen is very witty, and she dressed as "the last straw." How do you do that? Well you tape a straw box to your arm, and place one last straw in it. She had me laughing hysterically! It seems her students are into this kind of stuff, and she shared with me some of the other costumes she saw today which were a play on words. Thanks Karen for lightening my mood! Which isn't always easy to do these days.
I want to acknowledge the wonderful bake sale that is underway this week at the SSSAS upper school. Thank you Katie May for spearheading this and for keeping me posted on the amazing progress. I appreciate everyone participating in this event, and I am so happy to hear that this bake sale will be occurring during Senior Day tomorrow. I also want to acknowledge Guillermo Delgado-Aparicio, a colleague of Peter's in Peru. Guillermo and his band, the Apple Band Project, have agreed to donate the proceeds of their lastest album to the Mattie Fund. Please check out the link we posted on the blog today to learn more. Thank you Apple Band Project, your compassion, kindness, and determination to help support Mattie will not be forgotten.
I would like to share two e-mails with you that I received today. One is from my friend, Karen and the other is from Coach Dave, the head football coach at SSSAS. Karen wrote (as it related to my rollercoaster comment last night), "I wish you could return your ticket to the ride. It may not be fun but a lot of people got on the ride with you. You are not alone. We are all holding yours and pete's hand during the ride (even if it's through email)." Coach Dave wrote this to Mattie today, "I keep thinking about you and how amazing you are. I really think that you are a terrific young man. I have to tell you that you still have that gift of making people smile. Every time I see a picture of you smiling it makes me smile as well. By the way, an awful lot of Upper School students ate many donuts in your honor yesterday and today. What a perfect way to start the day. Have a donut and think about Mattie! Tomorrow, we have our last football game. Regardless of what happens, this has been my most memorable season as a coach, and I have you to thank for it. You have taught me so much about coaching by the way you handle everything in such a positive way. I want to be like you. You have made this season very special and we can’t wait for you to be with us again next season. Keep up the great work and keep fighting those bone bugs. We are all with you, our number one SAINT!" Dave, what can we say, but thank you! You are "big time." See I am learning football terminology, there is hope for me yet.
On the electronic front, thank you Karen, Susan, Kim, Brian Boru (our feline friend), and Margaret for the wonderful e-cards, and Juliet Kat (our newest tabby feline friend), and Coach Dave for the very thoughtful e-mails. Thank you Bob Weiman for the wonderful Halloween package. Mattie loved the finger flashlights and the fangs! Thank you Susan DeLaurentis for the great musical card, we don't know how you continue to find such great cards! We also want to thank Jane and Harold S. for encouraging their church to pray weekly for Mattie's recovery and for the mass they are broadcasting across the globe to pray for this recovery. We thank you all for sharing Halloween with us, and hope you and yours enjoyed the day.
No comments:
Post a Comment