Tonight's picture was taken in August of 2007. Mattie went to visit his preschool buddy one weekend, and their next door neighbor had the sprinkler going. It did not take Mattie long to run over to it and jump right in. He was absolutely soaked and loved it. I am so happy he had these fun, spontaneous, and unprogrammed moments.
Quote of the day: One often calms one's grief by recounting it. ~ Pierre Corneille
There is one thing I have concluded, the Foundation has become my full time work. There is no way I could accomplish all that I am doing now, if I were balancing other things. As the Walk approaches, I can easily work a 12 hour day, if not more. It becomes all consuming! This year's Walk I feel is a direct reflection of me and therefore, I set expectations for myself that are sometimes hard to reach. However, my motivating force is always Mattie, and ultimately helping children and their families. The Walk is NOT about me or how I appear. It is about raising money to help children psychologically and emotionally at Georgetown University Hospital. Specifically to raise funds for the childlife department at Georgetown. Childlife was our saving grace, as it is for SO many other children and their families. Regardless of how well or poorly the medical treatment is going when battling cancer, there are always psychological ramifications for the patient and the entire family. Childlife specialists assist children and their families in extraordinary ways, and I experienced this first hand with Linda (Mattie's childlife specialist). Going through chemotherapy, procedures, surgeries, and hospital stays are hard to adjust to, and yet though these things are medically mandatory they come at a price. Treating a child with cancer must be a holistic process, because the psychological needs and concerns of a child are just as valid and important to address as irradicating the cells growing out of control in the body. It is impossible to treat one without the other. This may sound like a very simple and intuitive concept, yet not all medical doctors embrace what I am saying.
When Mattie was in kindergarten, each Tuesday (ironically it was a Tuesday!), his school had chapel. Parents were invited each week to chapel, and I went because I wanted to see Mattie and hear what he was learning about. I also enjoy observing others and understanding my environment, so chapel gave me the opportunity to do this. Each Tuesday, I sat between two moms. One was Junko and the other was Luda. Ironically they have both become my friends, despite the fact that I no longer attend the school. Sitting together and chatting each week was a bonding force for us.
This morning I met Luda at her company, ABC Imaging (www.abcimaging.com). For the past two Walks we have held, Luda and her husband graciously produced our posters at NO cost to us. Their work is top quality and always looks professional. This year I contacted Luda again, but my request for this year's Walk was MUCH larger. I expected her to say that she would cover a portion of it and the Foundation would pay for the rest. Not only did she not say this, but she sat down with me and one of her graphic designers, and together we worked through all my poster needs. For those of you in attendance at the Walk this year, you have a real treat in store for you around the track. I haven't mentioned this project I have been working on, because I honestly did not know if I could even pull it off. The theme for this year's Walk is Faces of Hope, and what better way to understand this than to see pictures of childhood cancer survivors? Thanks to families that I reached out to personally, I captured 22 beautiful faces to share with walkers this year. To me their faces say it all, and are wonderful reminders for why we walk and why we work hard at raising money to help these children and their families in a meaningful way. As a person who is technically challenged, it was VERY helpful to be sitting next to Luda's technology person and talking to him live about the end products I wanted printed out. It was a very productive meeting followed by Luda and I having lunch together and reconnecting. Again, here is another example of the wonderful connections Mattie helped to make for me. Peter and I are very grateful to Luda and Medi for their generous support.
Later on this evening, Peter and I went out to dinner with Jerry and Nancy. My faithful readers know that Jerry and Nancy are the hospital musical duo that go door to door in the pediatric wards entertaining the children and their families. In fact, we met Jerry and Nancy on the first week Mattie began chemotherapy. I will never forget them. Our world was spinning all around us, and yet they came in and brought us music, and made us forget for just a few minutes that cancer had taken over our lives. We had a fun dinner tonight, and Peter got to share some of his adventures with all of us in Bangladesh and Kenya. I learned tonight that on Peter's last day in Bangladesh, he was asked to sign training certificates for all attendees. However he did not only provide each person with a certificate, but they wanted their individual pictures taken with Peter. A picture of him handing them a certificate and shaking hands. I found this whole dialogue fascinating and touching. However, as we continued talking, it began quite clear that I could have never done the kind of traveling Peter did. He is much more adventuresome, sturdy, and courageous than I. Everyone at the table tonight got a kick out of hearing us banter back and forth about this!
I leave you all tonight with a thought...... stay tuned for tomorrow's posting. We have wonderful news from a psychosocial legislative standpoint to share with you!
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