Thursday, May 17, 2012

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Tonight's picture was taken in May of 2009 at the Mattie March. Mattie was sitting next to Zachary. Zachary and Mattie practically grew up together, and became instant friends in preschool. Actually on the first day of preschool to be exact. It was almost friendship at first sight! During the Mattie March, Zachary stayed right next to Mattie the entire time, despite the fact that Mattie was in a wheelchair, looking ill, and clearly was different from the friend Zachary once knew. Their friendship continued. Mattie and Zachary were both very active and their play (when Mattie was healthy) involved running around and being boys. However, when Mattie had cancer, this type of play was no longer possible. Sometimes when the commonalities between people end, so does the friendship. However, amazingly, despite their physical differences these two did not miss a beat with each other, and they found their own way to play and to interaction that worked!

Quote of the day: Without courage, we can not practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest. ~ Maya Angelou

Peter and I literally worked the entire day. Neither one of us ever stopped moving. I am sure to our blog readers, you must be asking yourself, what is Vicki doing? What could she possibly be doing for this Walk that requires this much time, planning, and attention? I don't know the answer to this question, other than the logistics of running such an event are enormous. Peter spent the day helping and getting a lot of Walk tasks completed and at one point, he turned to me and said.... "I am getting a good glimpse at what your days and weeks have been like!" Coming from Peter, the king of multi-tasking, I viewed that as a high compliment.

This morning, I had the opportunity to see my friends Junko and Carolyn. They both came over to pick up things for the Walk and to lighten the load of what I would need to carry to the Walk on Sunday. Seeing both of them really helped to break up my day. Carolyn bestowed upon me wonderful chocolates and these beautiful gerber daisies in bright Mattie colors! I am a big gerber daisy fan, so this perked me up, which isn't easy to do in my current state. I certainly did not expect this lovely surprise, but I guess it is in the unexpected that one can feel special and appreciated.

This evening we headed to the airport to pick up my parents, who arrived in from Los Angeles. They will be with us for a week, as they always come to support the Walk. When Mattie was alive, their trips to Washington, DC were quite frequent. Now they come once a year for the Walk. Coming to DC, I would imagine, has significant Mattie memories for them and is an emotional experience.