Tonight's picture was taken in February of 2006. As you can see, Mattie and I were on the floor creating homemade Valentine's day cards for his preschool friends and teachers. We took this creative process seriously, and fortunately Mattie enjoyed doing this with me. I miss his face, voice, and incredible spirit.
Quote of the day: There are things that we don't want to happen but have to accept, things we don't want to know but have to learn, and people we can't live without but have to let go. ~ Author Unknown
I spent a good portion of the day running around doing chores. As the day wore on and my headache continued to persist and get worse, I decided to stop for lunch and read my book. This forced break was very important, because I can get very absorbed and focused on a task, and forget about eating and taking care of myself.
I picked up my 11 year old friend, Katharina, from school, and for one moment in time, watching her response to seeing my car reminded me of Mattie. Katharina saw me, and started running to the car with a big smile. That is literally how Mattie would greet me everyday when I picked him up from kindergarten. I have missed seeing a child happy to see me, and I guess I did not realize that until I saw Katharina. Since Katharina lost her pet bird this week, I felt the need to let her know I too felt sad for her loss. I have learned personally that one of the greatest gifts you can give someone who is grieving is your time, patience, and a listening ear. So that was my intention today. We went out for ice cream together and then we bought a couple of marigolds to plant in her bird's honor. We had a good time chatting with each other and Katharina also showed me some of her homework. Needless to say I have learned about percentages today and the Navajo Walk. I enjoy the opportunity to learn new things and I also loved looking at Katharina's upcoming science fair project on bacteria. You would be amazed what surfaces you will find bacteria living on!
This evening, I went with Katharina and her parents to her choir concert. This concert featured students from grades fifth to twelfth. Before the event began I had the opportunity to chat with Joan Holden, the head of Mattie's school, and Bob Weiman, the head of Mattie's lower school. I very much appreciate their continued support, because they in essence make our Foundation Walk possible each year by providing us access to their wonderful campus. Both Joan and Bob mentioned how much they liked our Foundation e-newsletter that was distributed today, and I very much appreciated their feedback. Bob and I also chatted about my kindergarten art visit. Bob wrote me a lovely e-mail about a week ago about my wonderful teaching style, and he reiterated his feelings tonight. Naturally that made me happy.
The concert tonight was filled with meaningful and fun pieces, and what was VERY evident is that these music directors have their work cut out for them. Particularly when trying to focus and motivate the middle school aged student. You could see how much the elementary school students responded to the music and seemed to get into the spirit of performing. For the middle school student, it was apparent that looking "cool" and not standing out or deviating from the norm was evident. However, performing usually means having to express one's self, which seems to go against the whole middle school developmental mindset. However, the high school aged students, like the elementary school students, were wonderful to watch because by this point these students clearly chose to participate in choir because of their love for music and the arts. Watching people perform who love what they are doing makes you as an audience member simply feel good.
Somewhere during the concert, I absorbed the children on the stage and realized Mattie will never be one of them. That wasn't an easy realization, and with that I got tears in my eyes. Overall, I enjoyed hearing the music and seeing young people appreciating the arts. I commend the lower school music director for confiscating all electronic devices from her students tonight. She wanted them to focus upon the concert and show respect and decorum for the venue they were participating in. In my book this teacher gets a GOLD star. It is important to teach our children to focus, to absorb the world around them, not to multitask at every moment of the day, and more importantly to learn that entertainment can come from art and not only a computer or video game. Brava to this teacher!
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