Saturday, May 25, 2013

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Tonight's picture was taken in May of 2009. Like so many holidays, Mattie also spent Memorial Day in the Hospital. Friends brought Mattie patriotic items for him to decorate his room with. However, since Mattie grew up in the city, he was very aware of Rolling Thunder and their presence over the Memorial Day weekend. Rolling Thunder’s mission "is to educate, facilitate, and never forget by means of a demonstration by service members who were abandoned after the Vietnam War." Rolling Thunder has also evolved into a display of patriotism and respect for all who defend our country. Literally this demonstration involves thousands of motorcycles that flood the streets of DC. You can't miss seeing it or hearing it for that matter! Mattie took all the flags, streamers, and pin wheels and decided to decorate his wheelchair. He created his own rolling thunder within the PICU.


Quote of the day: There is a saying in Tibetan, 'Tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength.' No matter what sort of difficulties, how painful experience is, if we lose our hope, that's our real disaster. ~ Dalai Lama XIV

Peter and I started our day off by walking on Roosevelt Island. I had done this with my mom on Thursday afternoon and the Island was simply glorious in color. So I suggested to Peter that we get out and walk. As we were walking over the bridge to enter the Island, this was our first sighting..... a Mama Duck with her eight ducklings. A priceless sighting that Mattie would have appreciated!

The Island is simply intoxicating now! It is filled with wild jasmine and the fragrance is wafting everywhere!

Greeting us on our walk was this wonderful Baltimore Oriole, or otherwise known as the Red Winged Blackbird. I love the call of this bird, because it is SO unique and reminds me of a creaking door.

Also on the Island today were beautiful yellow Irises in bloom! It was lovely to see this sea of yellow all around us.

As you most likely saw, at the top of the blog is now posted a timed photo album from this year's Foundation Walk. However, over the course of this next week, I will also be featuring photos in each nightly posting! One of the returning activities we had this year was a Zumba
session. The lady in grey and black is Jenny, my zumba teacher. This is her second year hosting a session at the Walk and this year the participation grew in size! People of ALL ages joined us and I think others simply enjoyed listening to the music and watching us dance. The funny part about this activity is people always come up to me after it is over to tell me that they thought they were in good shape, until they tried zumba. Zumba does require not only some coordination but most definitely stamina.

Coach Joseph (with the red shirt) is the current head Football Coach at Mattie's school. He is a great sport and participated in Zumba again this year with some of his athletes!

Brandon, Mattie's big buddy, was also a good sport and came out and joined his mom, my mom, and the rest of us jumping around!!!

To me this photo is charming! I did not realize that two of Mattie's kindergarten buddies were doing Zumba with us until Jenny told me this in class on Thursday. I was jumping around myself at the Walk so I did not see this for myself. Fortunately Daniel, our photographer, caught this priceless sight. In the front row are Liliana and Tim, both classmates of Mattie's!

On an aside, one of the Foundation's new taglines was featured on the back of our t-shirts this year. If you look closely you may see it! The tag line is, "It's not just about the medicine!" Since our mission is to address the psychosocial issues and needs associated with childhood cancer, I feel that this tagline is short, sweet, and says it all!!!

Peter and I are driving to the beaches of North Carolina tomorrow morning. We will be there for a week. So tomorrow I will be writing from a more peaceful setting. On reflection, I can't help but acknowledge that the last time I was in North Carolina, Mattie was alive and a toddler!