Tonight's picture was taken in June of 2009. Mattie was in the physical therapy clinic at the Hospital working with Anna (his physical therapist). Balloons became a big part of Mattie's therapy sessions. In fact, I learned more things one could do with a balloon for therapeutic purposes than I thought possible. As you can see here, Anna was trying to get Mattie to use his arms by extending them to catch and throw. What you may not recall with Mattie however, was two things. One, there were times Mattie was simply afraid to do the activity Anna presented to him. However, Anna was very good at altering the activity to fit Mattie's needs. Which was appreciated, because we both understood that if Mattie turned off to therapy, that wouldn't be good for his recovery in the long term. Mattie complied with Anna, because she gained his respect. I can assure you Mattie did not work as well with other physical therapists. Anna understood the importance of rapport and trust with her patients, and I believe in the end, that is what helped to solidify their relationship. The second thing about Mattie was he would get bored with a repeated activity easily. So this always kept Anna on her toes. He forced her to be creative, to think outside the box, and to have fun while working hard. I would say she and Mattie were successful together and if the cancer hadn't come back so soon, I do believe Anna would have made progress with getting Mattie to walk again.
Quote of the day: In the beginning, there is a whole year of those terrible "firsts" - his birthday, your birthday, your anniversary, all the holidays. Each time one came and went, however, it was a small victory, achieved with the help of those around me. My mother and my dogs formed the inner circle. Then there were the friends who set about putting pieces back together, each in his or her own way. They know who they are and I'm deeply grateful. ~ Betty White
I agree with tonight's quote, for those of you who remain committed to us, our story, and have not grown tired of hearing about our feelings and fears, we THANK YOU! As Betty White says...... you know who you are, and we are deeply grateful!
Peter and I have a Mattie Miracle Cancer Foundation board meeting coming up in the beginning of October. One of the things I worked on today was compiling a listing of all the events we sponsored and participated in over the last year. In addition, I have been able to photo document each of these events, which is important to me. Somehow seeing what we have accomplished on paper makes me understand that despite a very wicked year without Mattie, the Foundation was active, and made some important connections and contributions. I will share this listing with you shortly. I think it is one thing to talk about the activities, but to actually see them listed speaks volumes. Starting up a Foundation is challenging in and of itself, but starting up a Foundation right after your son dies magnifies the complexity in immeasurable ways. Nonetheless, despite the tumultuous year we had emotionally, Mattie's memory continues to live strong in our activities and in our hearts and minds.
As I left our home today, I noticed Mattie's sandbox had been opened and the sand was in every which direction. Some how that startled me, so when I was walking out of our deck to see this sight, I literally walked right into a door, and hurt my arm in the process. There are children in our complex that like Mattie's sandbox, and because there is no longer any room on our deck (because Speedy Red is parked there!), the sandbox is out in the common area. I have gotten used to the fact that others want to play in the box now, but there are times it still catches me off guard. Mainly I think it catches me by surprise because when I see the sand tossed everywhere, it reminds me of how the ground used to look after Mattie finished playing in the box.
This afternoon, I met up with Ann and we had lunch together and then went shoe shopping. Some women like clothes, handbags, or other fashion accessories, I happen to LOVE shoes. The irony about my foot is it changed after I had Mattie. I am not sure how that exactly happened, but I went from having a narrow foot to now having an average width. In many ways, this enables me to find shoes that easily fit my foot. I consider that a gift from Mattie! Needless to say, I had a good time trying on shoes, but really have to wonder about some of the shoe designs these days.
Peter got home earlier than usual because he now has a headache. A very unusual occurrence for him. We are exact opposites. I have a headache everyday, and he never gets one. We went out to dinner tonight, and chatted about many things. Tomorrow Peter is headed to New York with Ann and her son, Michael. They are going to see a Yankees/Red Sox game. They asked if I wanted to go, but taking me to a baseball game is typically not a fun experience for those who really want to watch the game. Also the idea of being in a car most of the day really isn't appealing either. While Peter will be in New York, I will be attending my friend's, Mary Ann, mom's memorial service. Mary Ann's mom died from a battle with cancer. A battle I understand well. In the evening, I was invited by Tanja to her Pampered Chef party. Around 20% of the proceeds from these kitchen gadgets will go to the Mattie Miracle Cancer Foundation. I am simply touched that Tanja is hosting such a gathering. So in essence Peter and I both have a busy Saturday ahead of us.
I wanted to end tonight's posting with a message from a young lady I only met once. Carly was a student physical therapy intern, training with Anna. Despite only meeting us once, Mattie captured her heart on that day. I wasn't aware of this, nor did I know Carly was a blog reader, until I received this beautiful e-mail last night. For those of you who have the courage to write to me, I THANK YOU! Carly wrote, "I have been wanting to write to you for a very long time to say thank you. I crossed paths with you and Mattie last summer during one of your clinic visits I was shadowing Anna as a physical therapy student. I had a chance to talk with Mattie and he told me that he had a website and I have been reading daily ever since. Even though he was not up to PT that day he still took time to talk with me and I could see that he was making greater impacts on the people he met than the people that tried to impact his life. Since then I must say even though it was a short meeting I feel as though Mattie helped to guide my career. I took a rotation this past summer at a childrens hospital in Rhode Island and could not help but to think of you and Mattie almost every day. As I look to start my career as a physical therapist in January at University of MD Med Center I knew I wouldn't be where I am today without influential patients and families like you. So all I really can say is thank you for sharing Mattie and your heart with all of us who read the blog each day it is just inspiring and heartwarming to see the strength that you and Peter carry with you in keeping the spirit of Mattie alive. Ps. I can not look at butterflies without thinking of Mattie and I was wondering if you have ever heard of a butterfly bush? It is a flowering bush that attracts butterflies, we have one at my house and even my dad noticed this summer the butterflies have been so plentiful and I just think to myself, thank you Mattie."
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