Tonight's picture was taken in March of 2007. Mattie was still in preschool back then and that afternoon after school, my parents and I took Mattie out to lunch. The irony is that now we know the executive chef of this particular Clyde's. We did not know her at the time, in fact we did not meet her until Mattie died. But every May at our Foundation Walk, Becca, the former executive chef of the Mark Center Clyde's (where Mattie was pictured) comes to our Walk and cooks all the food for our attendees. It is through Mattie that I have become connected to some remarkable people!
Quote of the day: Holding this soft, small living creature in my lap this way, though, and seeing how it slept with complete trust in me, I felt a warm rush in my chest. I put my hand on the cat's chest and felt his heart beating. The pulse was faint and fast, but his heart, like mine, was ticking off the time allotted to his small body with all the restless earnestness of my own. ~ Haruki Murakami
Over the years we took some magnificent photos of Patches. This one was taken in June of 2002. Patches loved her outdoor time just as much as I do. In fact, we were hoping that Patches would make it through the spring and summer so she would have one last time out on our deck. Patches enjoyed the bird traffic and the butterflies. Today is day two without our Patches and her presence is greatly missed.
The past two days I have spent a lot of time at home working on Foundation items. It is hard working independently and alone all the time. It is much worse now however without Patches around. I was talking with my mom today who reflected on how much Patches loved Peter. Patches, I suspect loved Peter because out of the two of us, he was the first one she encountered. One night back in February of 1996, I encouraged Peter to take some leftover steak we had outside to feed the stray cat, which I had already named Patches. I had been tracking Patches for a week, and quickly realized she was hanging around our deck and was most likely abandoned. The poor thing was screaming her head off in our common's area and frankly I was stunned no one else seemed to respond or care about her howling. I assure you she could howl, like a dog, and she wasn't quiet about it! When Peter went out to give her steak, she wanted nothing to do with him or the meat. So he went downstairs to get our mail. When Peter returned to our common's area, Patches jumped off a wall and began to charge Peter. Peter wasn't sure if she was going to attack him or what, so he braced himself. What she did however, was she ran up to him and started rubbing herself against his legs. Peter then led her to the plate with the steak on it, and he began to pet her head. From that moment, it was LOVE at first TOUCH! At that point, as if a flip was switched inside her head, she instantly trusted Peter and that trust and love lasted a lifetime.
Next Thursday, Peter and I are going to Bethany Beach. I usually feel the need to escape around the time of Mattie's birthday. I am not sure if I leave for myself or to protect others in my life from my feelings. For me it is always painful when Mattie's birthday isn't remembered or celebrated. As time passes, people forget, but the problem is I will never forget. As Mattie's friends are celebrating their 11th birthdays with parties, I am instead finding ways to mark this occasion on Mattie's memorial tree. I live such a different life from most of my friends and these differences are painful year round, but even more painful on special milestones and holidays. I snapped a picture of the 11 items which Peter and I will be adding to Mattie's tree this weekend in honor of Mattie's fast approaching birthday.
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