Monday, January 16, 2012

Monday, January 16, 2012

Tonight's picture was taken in January of 2009. We were center stage at the Minskoff Theatre in New York City. Jenny, Mattie's outstanding art therapist, helped us obtain 6 special tickets to the Lion King and when the show was over, we got a back stage tour by the actress who played Nala (Simba's girlfriend in the Lion King). This actress was a lovely person and she tried very hard to engage Mattie! She had us pose for a picture, and she asked us to roar like a lion! Karen captured us in motion and as you can see Mattie thought the whole thing was funny!


Quote of the day: You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give. ~ Kahlil Gibran

Last night, I could tell my symptoms were not getting any better and resting wasn't helping. So at 9:30pm, I called my doctor's office and spoke to the on-call physician. For me that is always tricky because my physician understands my case, but that isn't true for all her colleagues. Luckily however, my physician's fellow was on call, and we had met each other before during my office visits. Needless to say, she prescribed more antibiotics and at 10pm, Peter was driving to CVS. My pain was intense enough for me to mobilize forces at 9:30pm on a Sunday, and I knew without new medication, there was no way I could have made it through the night with the pain I was in.

Thankfully the antibiotics are starting to work and I was able to keep my schedule today. I had a fundraising meeting scheduled today between the salon I go to and a cultural group in DC. Specifically the group is called, Italians in DC. This group is interested in promoting Mattie Miracle's cause and they were initially attracted to us because I am an Italian American. We have already scheduled the event for March 31, starting at 8pm. So as the plans unfold, I will certainly keep my readers informed.

Today's meeting seems to illustrate Gibran's quote. After all, these individuals are not giving me their possessions. In fact, they are giving me MUCH more than that! They are sharing their time, expertise, skills, and giving me access to both of their communities! To me this is an enormous gift because they are all busy professionals, but they are people who feel compelled to help others and to make a personal difference in this world. This was a very touching philosophy to hear and a philosophy that in my perspective makes the world more meaningful and a better place. It would be nice if we all had a village supporting us. But life doesn't always work out that way. Instead, I do believe villages (or support networks) are created one person at a time!