Tonight's picture was taken in April of 2009. I typically do not post photos like this, but unfortunately there were many, many moments like this in Mattie's care. I do not even remember Peter taking this photo but clearly he captured one of our depressing, sad, and difficult times at home. In times like this, despite how impaired Mattie was, when upset, he found a way into my lap. As time goes by, I try to cling to and remember what it felt like to hold and hug Mattie. It does require a lot of thinking and reflecting because the mind has a way of playing tricks on you.
Quote of the day: If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties. ~ Francis Bacon
I started my day with going back to zumba. It is a good way for me to get up, out of our home, and engaged with others. The irony is I know my dance teacher way before I started zumba. She was actually one of the room parents in Mattie's kindergarten classroom. It is a small world and I appreciate her support in many ways. I enjoy her class and how she incorporates dance and movement into our exercises, but she also supports our Foundation. Last year Jenny came up with the idea of doing a zumba session at the walk, and this year, I was specifically asked to bring zumba back. I had no idea the level of attention it caused in those in attendance. Apparently it is a good spectator event, which is always a good thing to have to build community spirit and camaraderie in a crowd. Though my hope is more people will try zumba this year, because when you can put aside being self conscious, it really is great exercise that is fun.
After class, I headed over to Mattie's school, where the walk will be held on May 19. I had a logistics meeting and my friend Tina met me there so we could walk through our new addition this year..... kid bands. Peter and I were advised to incorporate live music into this year's event and when Tina heard this, she suggested using kids and teens versus adult musicians. In a way, it is kids helping to raise awareness and funds for childhood cancer. Which is a very valuable and inspirational notion! In just a few short weeks, I have been amazed with what Tina has pulled off and who she has connected the Foundation with to play at our event. Today, Tina introduced me to JP. JP is one of the founders of ROAM (Rock of Ages Music; http://www.roamrockandroll.com/joomla/) in Alexandria, VA. JP is a musician himself and he trains local children and teens on band instruments. Several kid bands operate out of his school.
Keep in mind that JP doesn't know me from Adam. Tina shared with him our story, our mission, and discussed with him the nature of our event. JP couldn't have been more accommodating today and if I listed all the things he is supplying and coordinating for us you may not believe it. When I meet people who are this giving and motivated, I literally want to sweep them up and adopt them immediately! Needless to say, I am thrilled that so many young people want to perform at our Walk.
Tina is aware of the fact that Mattie would be 11 years old now and his cohort is getting older. The idea that this cohort may now be interested in tuning into kid bands is a good one, and we are both eager to see the reaction to having the bands this year.
As tonight's quote clearly points out, coming into things with doubt does help to end things with certainty. Perhaps doubt isn't the right word. I would say I entered this whole band idea today with an open mind, I had no expectations. This is atypical for me, because I tend to approach Foundation tasks with some level of certainty or at least with an opinion. When we did a walk through of the campus today for the Walk event, I noticed at first I was closed off to ideas. But then I took a step back and really tried to absorb what Tina and JP were suggesting. I actually prefer working with people rather than calling all the shots, so today was a very refreshing day in which I felt like we gathered as a team to brainstorm in order to make this new addition to our event a success.
No comments:
Post a Comment