Saturday, April 9, 2011

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Tonight's picture was taken in April of 2006, outside of Mattie's favorite restaurant. It was a beautiful spring day, and in comparison to our current existence, it was a picture that captured the innocence of life without cancer.

Quote of the day: Grief is the price we pay for love. ~ Elizabeth II

Today was yet another cloudy, grey, and rainy day in Washington, DC. This weather is not helping my mood. Peter and I both spent the day working on things. I was focused on Foundation items as well as preparing for my last kindergarten art session coming up this Wednesday. While I was doing all this, Peter began our spring ritual of planting flowers. Peter bought beautiful blooming Forget Me Not plants and like last year, planted them in Mattie's honor in our balcony flower boxes.

In addition, Peter moved all the plants that were inside our home to our outdoor spaces. My living room has been transformed from a jungle of plants, back to more open space. It was actually a very freeing thing to see! After a day full of chores and work, we decided to go out to dinner. We ventured to Mattie's favorite restaurant, and to our dismay we learned the manager of the location, who we loved, is no longer working there, he has moved to the Gallery Place location in Washington, DC. Somehow this was a change that I wasn't anticipating and for some reason this upsets me because the manager knew Mattie and he helped to keep his memory alive for us each time we returned to the restaurant. Of course this will always be Mattie's favorite restaurant, but this will not mean the same thing to the new manager. Ironically this upsets me.

As we were having dessert at the restaurant, I saw Peter smile and jump up. I had no idea what he was doing, but then understood. Charlotte, Mattie's "girlfriend," and her parents were also dining there, so we had a chance to catch up and I got to hear about Charlotte's day. This week in school, Charlotte had the reverend say a special prayer for Mattie in honor of his birthday. I was very moved by this gesture and about Charlotte's memory of her friend.