Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Tonight's picture was taken in August of 2007. My parents and I took Mattie to the Los Angeles Zoo. I hadn't visited that zoo for many years, and the irony of having a child I think is that you land up reliving parts of your own childhood. Or at least it gives you an excuse to do kid friendly things. Peter and I miss those excuses now. It did not take much to entertain Mattie. Mostly because he was always alert, engaged, and fascinated by his environment. Mattie had a natural curiosity about things, people, and places, and he brought this energy into all his interactions. I remember buying Mattie the spray bottle he was holding in this picture. It was so hot that day, and when he saw these spray bottles with little fans, it intrigued him. I still have this bottle, along with his lightning McQueen sunglasses around his neck, and the giraffe sun visor I was wearing. Mattie picked out that visor and I occasionally still wear it.

Quote of the day: Everyone grieves in different ways. For some, it could take longer or shorter. I do know it never disappears. An ember still smolders inside me. Most days, I don’t notice it, but, out of the blue, it’ll flare to life. ~  Maria V. Snyder

I began my day walking over four miles. However, I must admit at times it is hard to walk in this heat. Nonetheless, I have been doing it and I find it gives me an excuse to leave our home and to clear my mind. The spring has been hard, not that any other season isn't challenging, but it just seemed like one emotional moment after the other with Mattie's birthday, Mother's day, the Walk, and Father's day. Then of course we move into July. July is no longer a happy month for me either, since this was the month Mattie was diagnosed with cancer. So walking and diversions are very needed.

This afternoon, I visited Brett Thompson, a managing director at Mercury (a high stakes public strategy firm). Brett has and continues to be very supportive of Peter, myself, and the Foundation. I am not sure how we were lucky (and I use that word sparingly these days) enough to find Brett and to have the opportunity to work with him, but there are some things I just accept. Brett has enabled us to have a presence on the Hill and to develop a solid legislative agenda that will bring awareness to the psychosocial needs of children and their families with cancer. I find Brett very easy to talk with, a caring individual, and extremely competent. Yes we are a client of his, but he has invested in our story and really understands the heart of the issues that form the platform of our Foundation.

Brett invited me to the office today to meet a group of 9 summer interns. All of whom are in college from around the Country. All nine of these interns are focused on obtaining additional congressional support to co-sponsor our HR 262 Resolution. Our original co-sponsors are Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Rep. Mike McCaul (R-TX) and as of this date the following other Representatives have co-sponsored this bill:

Rep. Raul Grijalva (AZ Democrat)

Rep. Michael Honda (CA Democrat)

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (NY Democrat)

Rep. R. Miller (NC Democrat)

Rep. Charles Rangel (NY Democrat)

Rep. Jackie Speier (CA Democrat)

The purpose of meeting the interns was to put a story and face to the issues. I had the opportunity to tell them about Mattie, about his battle, and the impact on Peter and I. In addition, I explained to them why it is imperative that we advocate for the psychosocial needs of children and their families with cancer. I haven't sat with a group of undergraduates since I stopped teaching. However, sitting around the conference table today reminded me of my teaching days.

Mercury Interns:

Louis from Delaware

Lauren from Missouri

Veronica from North Carolina

Nathan from Oregon

Nina from New York
Mark from Washington
Nick from North Dakota
Louise from Washington, DC

Brett knows I like visual documentation, and he is quite familiar with my blog, so he took a picture of all of us. In addition, he also told the interns that they should take pictures after each of their staff meetings on the Hill. I got a chuckle out of that because I am all about pictures and capturing the moment. I see I have inadvertently rubbed off on Brett.

This evening, I am having a text message exchange with my friend Tanja (Katharina's mom). Katharina is away at camp, and while she is away, I try to email her every couple of days to let her know I am thinking about her. Naturally she is away and having a good time so I never expected a response back. However, tonight Tanja forwarded me a response that Katharina wanted me to have, because she wanted me to know she appreciated me writing to her. I think it is very special for an 11 year old to be so thoughtful, and in our own way, we have a friendship that was most likely nurtured through Mattie. Throughout this school year Katharina text messaged me to update me on what and how she was doing. The beautiful part about this is Katharina does this on her own accord. She is NOT prompted to do this by her mom. For someone who lost a child, this genuine connection with another child is a very meaningful aspect of my life, which is why I am writing about it tonight. In Katharina's message to me, she wanted me to know she read the book, The Little Prince. She said that the Prince reminded her of Mattie. I told Tanja tonight that I have to READ this book, because Katharina is now the third person to tell me that Mattie reminds her of the Little Prince. The first person who told me this was one of Mattie's original babysitters, Emily. The second person to tell me about the connection between Mattie and the Little Prince was Margaret, Mattie's preschool teacher, and now I am hearing this same perspective from a child. So when I hear things three times, I feel the need to explore them for myself.