Monday, October 22, 2012Tonight's picture was taken in October of 2004. Mattie was two and a half years old, and just like the costume photo from last night (taken at age 1), Mattie did not want a cumbersome costume at age two. Soft textures were important to him and together we picked out this Pooh costume. From my perspective, I never saw a cuter Winnie the Pooh!
Quote of the day: Consider the postage stamp: its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing till it gets there. ~
As I look at the calendar, I realize next week is Halloween. I know that logically but from an emotional standpoint, this is the furthest thing from my mind. Except of course that I see pumpkins, decorations, costumes, and Halloween party discussions all around me. So last night, I decided to go through my October electronic photo files to feature a picture on the blog of Mattie during Halloween. Mattie celebrated six Halloweens, though he died at age 7, he was a month shy of his 7th Halloween celebration. Trick or treating with Mattie was a riot, because unlike the other kids, Mattie could care less about the candy. In fact, Mattie gave the candy to his friends or to me. Which was truly funny. Nonetheless, he enjoyed running around from house to house, seeing how people decorated, and of course loved the fact that he could use a flash light and other light up gear to walk around in the dark. Mattie loved flashlights and had quite a collection. Not unlike Peter, so apparently it runs in the genes!
I came across tonight's quote and it happened to bring a chuckle to my face. Though it may sound funny, there is a great deal of truth to the loyalty of a stamp. The reason a letter gets through the US Postal service to its final destination is because of the stamp. Without the stamp, nothing gets transmitted. In a way, there are many times in life where we too have to be like a stamp. We have to stick to a task, a conviction, or a belief until we accomplish what we set out to do. Now this is easier said than done, in comparison to a stamp. As we know once a stamp is stuck on, it doesn't have to contend with the thoughts, feelings, and highs and lows of other people. All of which can get us side tracked from our ultimate goal.
On a non-Foundation related task, I sit on a parent board at Georgetown University Hospital. One of the things I am very convicted about is changing the admission process at the hospital for long-term patients. At the moment the system is redundant, a complete waste of time and an energy drain on harried parents, not to mention the fact that it is not user friendly. I have been working on this issue since the summer. I have verbalized my concerns, and today I finally submitted them in writing. Before doing this, I had the opportunity to meet with Mattie's sedation nurse angel, Debbi. I wanted Debbi to read my letter and make sure what I was reporting was accurate. It would be very easy to walk away from the Hospital and certainly the whole admissions process. After all, I suffered through it for over a year, so I suppose others can too. But I am not happy with that! So like the stamp, I am stuck on this issue and won't let it go. If you could read the letter I wrote detailing the concerns then I know you would understand just how cumbersome and UNNECESSARY the admissions process is for families.
Certainly acting like a stamp can cause others to do one of two things..... they can truly appreciate our tenacity, or feel as if our energy and passion we are bringing to the issue are over the top. It takes courage to be a human stamp sometimes, but at the end of the day, without tenacity, conviction, and passion, change typically won't occur.
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