Tonight's picture was taken in December of 2008, Mattie's last Christmas with us. Of course at the time, I had no idea this was going to be our last Christmas together. Perhaps not knowing was a good thing. That particular night, we took Mattie to Zoo Lights, at the National Zoo in Washington, DC. This is a special event in which the Zoo is opened at night with magical light displays. Mattie was joined by his cousins: Nat, Sydney, and Will, and some of his preschool friends: Kate, Eric, John, and Christopher on this adventure! The one thing I recall about Christmas 2008, was it was VERY hard for Mattie. He was in a great deal of pain, he was upset because he was different from the other kids, and emotionally he was very down and angry. This of course translated down to Peter and I, and it took great strength to keep it together during that time. So unfortunately our last Christmas together was memorable, but NOT in a positive way at all.
Quote of the day: Thank you for letting me talk and letting me cry. Thank you for cheerful hello's and tearful goodbye's. Thank you for asking questions and saying her name. Thank you for not understanding but sharing my pain. ~ Jacqueline Savageau
Peter and I made it safely to Los Angeles, but what a flight we had. As many of my readers know, flying is not my favorite mode of transportation. The plane left Washington, DC about 45 minutes late. Why? Because each time the plane left the gate, it was sent right back! At least twice!!! I never experienced this before. Our flight was overbooked and literally the plane was taxing away from the gate when the rest of us observed a man still standing in the aisle. This man did not have a seat, yet no one noticed this until we were away from the gate! So naturally once the flight attendants realized what was happening, the plane was sent right back to the gate to drop off the man who did not have a seat. The door closed again and the plane taxied away. While we were moving, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a woman behind us jump up and grab her luggage in the overhead compartment. She then ran up toward the front of the plane and guess what? She wanted to get off the plane because she realized her boyfriend wasn't on it. He was the person asked to get off the plane. So yet again, the plane was sent right back to the gate for a second time. By this point, all of us were laughing, because this was like a comedy show! Eventually we took off and contended with a lot of turbulence. Between being confined in such a small space for almost 6 hours and dealing with all that motion, I am thoroughly worn out tonight. Also I think poor Peter is finally getting feeling back in his hand now, after I had a death grip on it for hours!
Needless to say, we are here safely, but only after a very wild roller coaster ride as we landed. Los Angeles has been inundated with rain for over a week now and we landed through some very thick and ominous clouds.
On Monday night, Peter was very up and very energized over the lunar eclipse. He took some amazing pictures and at 3am he woke me up so I could see this once in a lifetime sight. The moon before my eyes was a brilliant red! I thought I was looking at a red planet and NOT the moon! In a way I couldn't help but think of Mattie when I saw this incredible sight. The moon was reflecting his color. It was a true Mattie Moon!
Isn't this an incredible sight?!
I would like to end tonight's posting with a very touching message we received from Mattie's oncologist and our friend, Kristen. Kristen captured the essence of Mattie's spirit in last night's moon beautifully. Kristen wrote, "I've been thinking of you a lot lately because of the Holidays and in the last day or so because of the Lunar Eclipse. I can't help but think of Mattie's Moon. Today is the Winter Solstice and the shortest day (or darkest day) of the year. I heard the last time a full moon was totally eclipsed on the Winter Solstice was in 1554 but read on your blog the last Winter Solstice was 1638. Either way...quite a long time ago. I can't help but believe Mattie is talking to you from heaven saying "Even on the darkest day of the year, even when you can not see me behind the shadows, I am here..."
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