Sunday, October 2, 2011

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Tonight's picture was taken in May of 2005. As you can see our living room was filled with train tracks and a whole host of other things you can't see. Mattie LOVED trains, especially Thomas trains, and what you may not be able to see on the TV behind Mattie was an episode of Thomas the Tank engine playing. I learned early on that Mattie was NOT a couch potato, and frankly never really sat still to watch TV or a video. He was a multitasker and if he was watching or listening to a show about trains, then he most certainly wanted to be building and playing with trains. These tracks and all of Mattie's Thomas trains are still in his bedroom today. These were toys he played with daily and meant a lot to him, so clearly parting with them doesn't seem possible.

Quote of the day: We have to believe that even the briefest of human connections can heal. Otherwise, life is unbearable. ~ Agate Nesaule

As promised, the question of the day is....................................................
Have you voted for Tricia (Mattie's nurse) today?
(Remember you can vote ONCE every 24 hours!!!)

For more information about the Johnson and Johnson Amazing Nurse Contest, please read my September 28, 2011 blog posting. Your daily vote is important and will bring Tricia closer to becoming a finalist.
Click on this link to vote for Patricia Grusholt: http://wildfireapp.com/website/6/contests/157336/voteable_entries

Peter went for a walk on Roosevelt Island this morning. I give him credit since it was cool, damp, and raining today. My three favorites! Along Peter's journey he saw a wonderful Great Blue Heron and snapped a picture for me.

Peter also saw a wonderful Roosevelt Island Buck. Though I did not see this deer in person, I can safely say I am no longer in Los Angeles, since this is DEFINITELY NOT the LA Cappuccinos with their black tails, sleek bodies, and very large ears! Our deer are larger, with reddish brown fur, and have white tails!

While I was in Los Angeles, I received an email from a high school student enrolled in an International Baccalaureate (IB) degree program. An IB program professes to produce “global citizens” and is considered to be more “practical and application-oriented.” Moreover, the focus of the IB pedagogy is on ‘how to learn’ rather than ‘what to learn.’ One of this student's requirements is to investigate a topic of her choice and write a research paper about it. She decided to focus her research on childhood cancer and the foundations established to support children with cancer. I suspect she is interested in cancer because her brother is a cancer survivor and as a sibling, she too was greatly impacted by her brother's diagnosis. This young lady learned about the Mattie Miracle Cancer Foundation through the recent article that was published in the Georgetown University Hospital's Pediatrics Magazine.

We chatted with her for about 90 minutes and naturally we will have future follow ups with her. Nonetheless, as Peter and I sit side by side and talk about the Foundation, it is obvious that we come from two different disciplines, and yet together, these disciplines blend to make us a more solid package. Peter gives the analogy all the time of our different leadership styles. Apparently, I am like Bones (the medical doctor on the original Star Trek series) and he is like Captain Kirk. Those of you old enough to remember the original Star Trek may recall that Bones was about feelings and emotions and Captain Kirk was about logic, reasoning, and practicality. We tried this analogy today with our young friend (who asked about our leadership styles!), but we quickly realized there was a generation gap with this great analogy!

This evening, I began researching Truro, MA. Truro is on Cape Cod, and sits very far down the arm of the Cape, almost close to Provincetown. In March of this year, I attended Mattie's preschool auction. One of the items I bid on and won, was a five day stay at a house in Truro. Certainly when I was competing for this item it sounded lovely. The Cape is beautiful, the leaves will be turning, and so forth. However, now as I sit in my home freezing from today's weather, the notion of going further North is not appealing. So I am trying to get my bearings to prepare for our vacation away. We leave this coming Friday, and I have already learned that the house we are staying in has NO Internet connectivity. In fact, most of the town of Truro, has no wifi access. I found one location that does, but I honestly do not know how I feel about dragging my computer to this place each day to write the blog. So at the moment, I am in a quandary. I joked with Peter over this, because I have been on cruises, in remote parts of Alaska, and STILL had access to the Internet.

Certainly I could forgo not writing the blog for five days. I assume my readers would understand and would return to reading once I came home. However, I have written this blog for THREE years, each and every day regardless of the circumstances, and as some of you know, while living in the PICU, my circumstances were dire. The blog, since Mattie's death, has become my baby. I nurture it each day with words, and I share Mattie's memory with you each day. So not writing the blog somehow signifies something to me, perhaps the abandonment of Mattie's memory. I am not sure, but I have a couple of days to come to terms with a decision.