Sunday, October 23, 2011Tonight's picture was taken in October of 2006. Peter and I took Mattie to a local pumpkin patch and as you can see Mattie picked several pumpkins to take home with us. Mattie and I loved pumpkins. So much so, that we loved this time of year, because we could eat all things pumpkin such as cookies, breads, muffins, pie, soup, and even ice cream! I miss my pumpkin buddy and though I see pumpkins for sale all around me, Peter and I haven't purchased a pumpkin since Mattie died. This is not something we talk about, it just seems like an understood feeling between us.
Quote of the day: It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little - do what you can. ~ Sydney Smith
About a week or so ago, I received an email from my mom encouraging Peter and I to see the movie, Dolphin Tale. For the most part when Mattie was born I stopped going to the movies. However, that wasn't a loss or big adjustment for me. Mainly because I am not a fan of most modern day movies. In fact, I probably can count on one hand how many movies I see in a theatre in a given year. It is fortunate for the film industry that I am not a critic, because the industry would either go out of business, or perhaps be forced to make better and more inspiring movies. Movies that actually told a story and made you feel happy to be human rather than embarrassed by the perverse and sinister concoctions that Hollywood is so good at producing. I am telling you this because when my parents recommend a movie to me, they know it has to meet certain criteria in order for me to see it. When my mom said Dolphin Tale reminded her of Mattie, that peaked my curiosity. So I googled the movie and read the following synopsis..................................
Dolphin Tale is inspired by the amazing true story of a brave dolphin and the compassionate strangers who banded together to save her life. Swimming free, a young dolphin is caught in a crab trap, severely damaging her tail. She is rescued and transported to the Clearwater Marine Hospital, where she is named Winter. But her fight for survival has just begun. Without a tail, Winter's prognosis is dire. It will take the expertise of a dedicated marine biologist, the ingenuity of a brilliant prosthetics doctor, and the unwavering devotion of a young boy to bring about a groundbreaking miracle--a miracle that might not only save Winter but could also help scores of people around the world. The real Winter, who plays herself in 'Dolphin Tale,' today serves as a symbol of courage, perseverance and hope to millions of people--both able and disabled--who have been touched by her remarkable story of recovery and rehabilitation.
I even read this Washington Post article about the movie and the true story behind Winter, the dolphin, before going to see the movie. Because of the content of the film, I decided to read the story line to Peter this morning, so he would be prepared.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/movies-true-story-behind-dolphin-tale/2011/09/20/gIQAZCFLrK_story.html
For Peter and I, this was a very emotional movie. We naturally love dolphins and are touched by most animal stories. However, this story hit a lot of personal and emotional buttons for us. The first thing that struck me immediately in the movie was the little boy named Sawyer, who rescues the dolphin. Sawyer is a misunderstood kid, who isn't like the other boys around him. He loves to build and construct things, he is the ultimate gadget kid without many friends. Well that is until he discovered his new friend, Winter, the dolphin. Then Sawyer discovered that he had many talents, compassion, and skills that are impossible to learn or develop inside of a classroom! Sawyer reminded me of Mattie. He was slender in build and his character just screamed out Mattie to me. Sawyer was sensitive, perceptive, and mature for his age. Just like Mattie.
However, what moved me was seeing the rehabilitation of a dolphin who lost its tail in a crab trap. A dolphin without a tail, is like a human without a leg. Winter and other dolphins who lose a tail typically do not have a long life expectancy. Dolphins may learn to compensate for the lack of a tail, by swimming like a fish (moving its body left and right, rather than typical dolphin fashion which is up and down). However, this form of swimming is not sustainable since the backbone structure of a dolphin is not built for side to side swimming motion. So long term swimming like this produces paralysis in dolphins. Therefore, the movie takes you on an emotional ride as Winter becomes the first dolphin to be fitted with a prosthetic tail. The technology of this invention fascinated me. Dolphin skin is apparently much more sensitive than ours. The analogy is if you scratch our skin within minutes we will notice that the scratch is barely visible. This isn't true for a dolphin. A light scratch will remain on a dolphin's skin for months. Therefore fitting a prosthetic on a dolphin is almost impossible, that is until the development of winter's gel (a new product designed especially for Winter, the dolphin). Winter's gel is a"sleeve" which helps keep the tail in place but avoids damaging the dolphin's skin, and makes the tail easy to remove. Such a sleeve, is now used on human amputees as well! It has been said that Winter's gel enables amputees to feel less pain and gives them much more freedom than they had before using their prosthetic.
Winter is considered a bionic bottlenose dolphin. A title I used often with Mattie. I always told him, post limb salvaging surgeries, that he was my bionic boy. He got a kick out of that especially when I joked with him that these special parts gave him extraordinary strengths. Strength that a typical boy wouldn't have. The movie in its own way showed us the mental and emotional adjustment this dolphin went through to accept a prosthetic limb. Not unlike what a human most likely faces. The connection however that touched my heart was that Winter has become a role model for children with disabilities. Needless to say this movie made us think of Mattie. Mattie being different, Mattie have prosthetics, Mattie not feeling normal, and Mattie learning to adjust to his disabilities. Throughout the movie we were both in tears, and by the end of the movie, it looked like someone punched me in the face. My eyes are still swollen and I feel like I went 10 rounds emotionally. The movie was touching in its own right. Seeing the connection between a human and a dolphin is very powerful. But if you are also a parent who has a child with a disability, or know someone who is an amputee, then I have no doubt this movie's message will hit close to home. I leave you tonight with two links about Winter and the hope that this will inspire you and your family to see this movie. The message is beautiful and powerful, and illustrates what is right and meaningful about the human race.
Video of Winter (the bionic bottlenose dolphin)..............
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uh8xijsR1J0
Winter is therapeutic for people with disabilities...............
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB-GQKyhdS8
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