Friday, March 29, 2013

Friday, March 29, 2013

Tonight's picture was taken in April of 2003, during Mattie's first birthday party. Starting last night, I decided to feature a birthday photo of Mattie (in chronological order) for the next week! Which will bring us to Mattie's 11th birthday on April 4th. Mattie's first birthday party theme was ELMO! Mattie was never a couch potato, nor was he ever glued to the TV or any other device for that matter. Mattie was a creatively active child from day one. However, if Sesame Street was on TV, and Mattie heard ELMO, he would stop whatever he was doing and stare at the TV. ELMO captured Mattie's attention. I am not sure if it was ELMO's voice or color, but it was clear that ELMO meant something to Mattie. Therefore when selecting a birthday theme, I picked something that clearly Mattie loved.

Quote of the day: When love dies, the heart's ashes do not leave on the wind—they rest on the mantelpiece of the soul, darkening the sunrise we once saw to be beautiful. ~ A.M. Hudson

Last night there was a beautiful FULL moon sitting right over the ocean. Peter went outside and captured some wonderful photos of Mattie Moon. You may think there is some sort of haziness or blur to this photo. However, what Peter was able to capture besides the moon, was a beautiful moon beam. I have heard of moon beams but not until last night had I ever seen one.

I had a difficult night of sleep and woke up with just as an intense headache as I went to bed with. I have had an excruciating headache for over two weeks straight. It is beyond pain, it is debilitating. Peter has me on a three day NO work schedule. If he sees me working or even focusing on work, he remedies the situation. This morning, though it was cold out, the sun was glorious. So we sat outside on the deck. It maybe March, but Peter's skin burns easily, so he was all covered up. I thought this look was so funny, I snapped a photo of him! Notice the Boston Red Sox blanket! Mattie was given this blanket when he was battling cancer and it is one of many that I still have and we use.

While sitting on the deck, this is the view of the Atlantic Ocean that we can see. I think the highlight of my day was just sitting still, listening to the birds and ocean, and spending time with Peter chatting. We carry a lot of sadness around with us and when I stop moving and working, this is usually when I begin to cry. It doesn't take much to set me off, especially when I have such intense head pain. Such pain is frightening because the greatest fear is when or if it will end? Before we left Washington, DC, Peter said something to me that caught my attention. We focus on helping people daily in both our personal and professional lives and all of this helping is draining. Yet both of us have so much that we are working through individually and with each other. So his point was we need to get away and have these moments to make sure we are okay as people and as a couple. My joke with Peter is that he missed his calling as a therapist! His insights are usually spot on. I am hoping a weekend of not working on anything Foundation related restores some sort of balance in my life and body.