Friday, May 24, 2013

Friday, May 24, 2013

Tonight's picture was taken in July of 2002. At three months old, Mattie was baptized at a private ceremony held by Father Jim. I met Jim when I was a graduate student at The George Washington University. In fact, Jim gave me my first client to work with and supervised me. Jim baptized Mattie, but he also presided over Mattie's funeral. Something none of us would have ever expected to happen six years later. Mattie handled his baptism SO well. He had absolutely no problem with water being poured over his head, in fact, Mattie seemed to like it and actually smiled through the process! He was always full of surprises!

Quote of the day: It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime... ~ Khaled Hosseini

My parents flew back to Los Angeles today. Our day started very early, and traveling is never an easy endeavor these days. My parents are now safely back in LA and it is hard for me to grasp that the Walk is now officially over. When my parents return home, it seems to signal the end of the Foundation event for me. I live and breathe the Walk for MONTHS and when it is over, it is certainly a healthy thing, but it also is emotionally challenging for me.

I am honored to have a new friend, a sixth grader at Holton-Arms school, who faithfully follows the blog. I do not know who she is, but her messages have a way of making me smile. It is funny how happiness can be brought to me in the written word! My young friend said she understood the sentiments I expressed in last night's blog, as it related to the fact that Mattie's friends will all be graduating from fifth grade next week. I of course expressed other emotions last night as it related to graduation, especially the fact that I find no comfort in knowing that as Mattie's friends are graduating they are thinking of him. What I find very intriguing is my new friend says she can understand what I am expressing and even asked me how I was in her message. Typically I do not like the question "how are you?" But her "how are you" I felt was different! She wasn't going through the motions of asking, but instead posed a genuine question and expression of concern. Needless to say, I find this connection with this young person I don't even know, very special, and it makes me happy.

Over the next week, I have the privilege of sharing with you photos that were captured by our photography company, Photozee--- http://www.photozee.com/.  Photozee does probono work for us and we are deeply grateful to Daniel for working so hard at the walk to capture every nuisance. Pictured here is my friend and colleague Nancy and her 9 year old grandson, Ryan. Nancy traveled from New York with Ryan to attend our Walk this year. Ryan participated in one of the kid trots and as you can see he earned a medal for racing!

At the Walk, one of the activities provided is nail art. This is brought to Mattie Miracle by the Molecule Salon in Washington, DC. My friend Nancy had a butterfly pattern created on her nail in honor of Mattie! Nancy was a good sport, as I snapped a photo of her nails!

No Walk would be complete without Linda, Mattie's child life specialist. A portion of our Walk proceeds go to the Mattie Miracle Child Life Program Fund at Georgetown University Hospital. Linda oversees this fund and Peter and I are committed to supporting Linda and her work. I couldn't have survived at the Hospital without Linda. In honor of Mattie, Linda set up a beautiful butterfly glitter project with the kids in attendance. Linda told me that several of Mattie's friends created butterflies that they want us to eventually place on Mattie's memorial tree.

Through Mattie's battle with cancer, Peter and I became close to two very special families. One of these families is Tricia's. As my faithful readers know, Tricia was Mattie's favorite HEM/ONC nurse. Besides being an extremely competent nurse, Tricia is also an outstanding advocate as well as a compassionate and an insightful person. Peter and I fell in love with her and she was really there for us during all hospital crises, and I assure you we had many of them! Each year, starting in 2009 (when Mattie was still alive), Tricia and her children have attended our Walk! Tricia has been coming for five years in a row and her children follow us on Facebook. Pictured from left to right are Kelly, Kyle, Nicole, Tricia, Vicki, and Peter.

The other amazing family we became connected with at Georgetown was the Johnson Family. My faithful readers are very aware of Brandon! Like Tricia's family, Brandon and his parents have attended every Walk and no matter what activities we have going on, they are always there to volunteer, help us, and Brandon is always by my side to help us officially start the Mattie Miracle Walk around the track each year! Pictured from left to right are Vicki, Brandon, Toni, and Jim!

I end tonight's posting with a photo of Brandon's hand! Brandon went to our raffle tent and got a washable tattoo of a roach placed on his hand. There is great significance to this tattoo. Mattie LOVED roaches and anything creepy! Brandon got this symbol in remembrance of his seven year old buddy. A sight I won't forget anytime soon!!!