Tonight's picture was taken in January of 2006. Mattie was almost four years old, and was in preschool at the time. In front of Mattie, you will see the gingerbread houses he and his classmates decorated in preschool that day (gingerbread houses that I made and assembled by hand). He was very excited that he got to take home the finished products! What captured my attention about this picture, was the purple balloon Mattie was holding! Some of you may recall my story over Christmas time about the purple balloon that magically appeared on our deck. In the cold of winter, we never expected to see a purple balloon just sitting out there, right next to Speedy Red. But there it was. Peter actually brought the purple balloon into our home while I was in California. Needless to say this purple balloon is still inflated in our living room, and just sits there looking at us. It seems very ironic to me that I would spot this picture tonight, and what are the chances out of all the balloons that could land up on our deck, it would be a purple one?!
Quote of the day: Death ends a life, not a relationship. ~ Jack Lemmon
Today turned out to be a day I hadn't quite expected. Mainly because by the end of the day I was actually productive and focused. When I stepped outside today, it was warmer than it had been for days. Not the kind of day I was expecting in January. I met up with Ann and we actually walked and shopped in Old Town Alexandria. Which is a very charming area, on a good weather day. During our journey, we stopped for lunch, and as we were talking, Ann happened to look outside and then motioned to me to look out the window. Passing right by us was Katie, Zachary's mom. Zachary was Mattie's closest preschool friend, they were inseparable together. Katie came inside the restaurant and we all had a good time chatting and catching up. Talk about chance occurrences.
At lunch, Ann asked me about the upcoming Mattie Miracle Cancer Foundation Walk. This dialogue got me talking about the ideas Peter and I have been brainstorming, and basically by the time I finished, Ann was strategizing how these ideas were going to get addressed and brought to life. I sometimes can get bogged down with thoughts and feelings especially as it relates to events honoring Mattie's memory. However, in Ann's subtle (or not so subtle ways), she enabled me today to take one step forward, which was what I needed to get started. By the time I got home this evening, I had a lot to talk to Peter about, and then began sending out e-mails and connecting with others. Others, are key, because Peter and I can't do this Walk alone, and fortunately we have a team of incredible people and friends to turn to. So I began the process tonight. Needless to say, when I left our home today, I did not imagine I was going to come home this motivated.
I also received two lovely email messages, that made me smile and I wanted to share them with you. A fellow elementary school mom, Sue, emailed me the other day. Sue was active in Team Mattie and is active in our Foundation. She has served as the co-chair of our children's activities at the Walk for the past two years. Sue wrote, "I just want to touch base and let you know that the SSSAS Brownie troops (2342 which is made up of Mattie's 3rd grade classmates, and troop 3969 which is the 2nd grade troop) have chosen the Mattie Miracle Cancer Foundation as one of the recipients for proceeds from our cookie sales. The girls are excited to sell cookies knowing that a portion of the proceeds will benefit Mattie's foundation."
The second email was from my friend and colleague, Susan. Susan visited Mattie many times in the hospital, and she understood him. Susan became famous in Mattie's mind for bringing him excavation kits in the PICU. Mattie transformed his hospital room many a day, to dig for plastic dinosaur bones! Susan wrote, "OK I don't know the significance of this, but thought I'd pass it along...I was coming home today along GW Parkway and just as I got to Roosevelt Island what should come on the radio??? Dancing Queen by ABBA. I have to admit that Mattie wasn't foremost on my mind there. I was singing along when ZONK I realized why the song hit me (I remember dancing down the hall with Mattie during PT with this blaring on the radio) and then ZONK again...there's Roosevelt Island. I don't claim that Mattie sends me messages per se, but maybe he wanted you to hear from a different source about about him."
No comments:
Post a Comment