Tonight's picture was taken in April of 2004. That day, Peter and I took Mattie to the National Zoo. Peter captured a precious moment in time between us and some of the photos snapped minutes apart from each other were an absolute riot. This was just naturally Mattie, he did not know Peter was taking pictures of us. I typically don't show more than one photo of Mattie a night, but since there were several in this series, I decided it would make sense to illustrate Mattie in action!
Quote of the day: A meow massages the heart. ~ Stuart McMillan
Peter and I worked on Foundation items this morning, and unlike my usual weekends, this weekend I was actually productive. I got a lot done in the morning and then Peter and I ventured out in the afternoon. There have been many adjustments for us now without Patches. For example, Peter told me that he walked down the cat food aisle in the grocery store this weekend. He has been conditioned for 17 years to buy food for Patches. So it is hard habit to break, not unlike the habit we had to break when we went to Target, a gift store, or any other kind of shopping after Mattie died. For seven years we were used to buying things for Mattie, picking up toys or other items we thought he would like. It took us a while to understand that these kid aisles no longer applied to us. It was a painful but very real rude awakening. Just like having to by-pass the cat food aisle now!
Tomorrow evening (yes 7:30pm!) I have been scheduled for an MRI. The imaging is of my neck and spine to try to figure out why I have been having numbness and pain since January. I am told that I will be in the machine for an hour! Seems like a perfect place for someone with a massive headache. I have taken MRIs in three different locations around Washington, DC. But I selected to return to the hospital that Mattie was born in and where he was diagnosed with cancer for tomorrow night's testing. Last week I saw an orthopedist who specializes in backs. Ironically there are not a ton of people who specialize in backs, which surprised me. This doctor was a good listener, and when I told him about Mattie, he was deeply sorry, and also understood why I would have great concern given these long-term symptoms. As I told him, I am good at living with pain, I just rather hear from his mouth that this pain is normal rather than falsely determine this on my own.
I end tonight's posting with this photo I took in December of 2004. Mattie was two years old and as you can see both he and Patches were fascinated with the Christmas packing box being stored under our staircase. Patches wanted to rub against it and Mattie wanted to open it. They were quite a duo!
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