Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Tuesday, October 4, 2011 -- Mattie died 108 weeks ago today.

 

Tonight's picture was taken in May of 2005 on our deck. Mattie's frog sandbox was one of his favorite places to play in outside. What you can't see however was the PILE of sandtoys near me in the picture that he first had to dump out of the sandbox so he could step into it. Mattie had hotwheels cars in his sandbox, all sorts of shovels, sand molds, pails, and you name it! The creativity of his play was endless. Also notice that in the picture he has a smiley face sticker on his shirt, but notice the way he put it on himself. He wanted to be able to look down on his shirt and see the smile looking right at him. Rather clever if you ask me!

 

Quote of the day: Sorrow you can hold, however desolating, if nobody speaks to you. If they speak, you break down. ~ Bede Jarrett

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


We have 20 more days to vote in the Amazing Nurse Contest, and I want to THANK my readers for continuing to vote for Tricia each day. Your votes are SO important  and necessary to secure her as one of the five Johnson & Johnson finalists. As always I appreciate the fact that you continue to read the blog and for taking the time to vote for Tricia, Mattie's Amazing Nurse.

I had a hard time falling asleep last night and then arose at 6am. So it was not a good start to the day for me. On Tuesdays I take a zumba class, and I was tempted not to go, but I found my way to the class and jumped around for an hour. After jumping around I felt even more tired and yet at the same time a bit lost.

Because today was the first sunny day we had in days, it was lovely to be outside. So I went over to Ann's house to spend time in her garden. Some of you will recall I planted Ann's flower beds this spring, and I must admit that over the past several months, I haven't devoted my time and attention to them as I have in the past. So I honestly wasn't sure what I was going to find growing and thriving. However, I was thrilled to see that all the plants have done very well this summer and have really grown. With all the rain we have had, I am not surprised, but it is always wonderful to see something you planted living, growing, and continuing to provide beauty.

At this point in the day, I could have just gone home, but I had decided on Monday night to visit Mary (Ann's mother) for Tuesday's dinner, so it made no sense for me to come home to DC, just to drive back to VA. While at Ann's house, my friend Tina text messaged me. Tina is one of Ann's neighbors, and asked me if I wanted to go to lunch with her. When she messaged me I wasn't sure how I was feeling, but then we went for pizza. Hitting me with carbohydrates is like music to my ears. It is the next best thing to chocolate, and that is saying a lot.

In order for Peter to reclaim his health after Mattie cancer battle, he has had to watch his carbohydrate intake. So naturally I am trying to support this and therefore together we never have pizza. So as I told Tina today, having pizza is a real treat for me and we had a good time eating and chatting about our upcoming weekend adventures.

In honor of each Tuesday, the day that Mattie died, Mattie's oncologist and our friend, writes to us each week. Today Kristen wrote, "Finally, Mattie has sent us his sunshine!  Thinking of you this Tuesday and every day."