Wednesday, January 30, 2013

yWednesday, January 30, 2013

Tonight's picture was taken in February of 2003. Mattie was all dressed up to go to a birthday party. The little girl in question was having a tea party and the kids could get dressed up for the event if they wanted to. I can't quite say that Mattie loved the tea party, but he got into the spirit of it all and certainly looked like a little gentleman.









Quote of the day: We are never so defenseless against suffering as when we love. ~ Sigmund Freud


I had the wonderful opportunity to meet with my friend Carolyn today. Carolyn coordinates our Foundation's Raffle during our annual Walks. This year will be her fourth year with us. What I admire about Carolyn is she works full-time, raises her children, and yet despite being pulled in many directions, she feels compelled to volunteer with us. This is her choice and I am honored by her dedication and commitment to our mission and to Mattie's memory. We had a very productive brainstorming lunch and what Carolyn doesn't know is that prior to meeting her I had an ocular migraine. An ocular migraine is actually quite frightening, because it affects your vision for a good 20 minutes. Thankfully it passed and talking with Carolyn helped. I have a core group of amazing women who help me with the annual walk. I am not sure these women know how much I value them, because in so many ways they share the stress with me. Sharing someone's stress is a great gift of friendship. With this core group of women, I can email them a walk question, and I get immediate and insightful responses. I not only appreciate their friendship, but what it also tells me is that they want to actively keep Mattie's memory and legacy alive. This matters to them.  

I am happy to report that Peter is feeling much better! This evening, when he got home from work, he was greeted by Patches. Patches desperately wanted to go outside onto our deck. We are having 60 degree weather in January, which of course is very unusual. But Patches loved it and hopped right onto our patio table! As you can see our Christmas lights are still up. Peter puts these lights up the day after Thanksgiving, a tradition he used to do with Mattie. We keep these lights up until the spring time. These lights remind us of Mattie and brightens up a very depressing and gray time of year. Our deck looks like such a mess now and barren in the winter months, and in some respects it is amazing how we transform it in the spring. I end tonight's posting with a message from my mom about "nurse Patches!"

A Cat for All Seasons by Virginia R. Sardi

I'm in awe of the devotion that "Nurse Patches" shows to both of you when you are not feeling well. The pictures of her by Peter's side as he recovers from the norovirus are precious and reveal that she has an almost human like attachment to her family and that her presence there is meant to give him all the feline comfort she can from her little but generous heart! She has proven herself to be a cat "for all seasons!"