Thursday, July 25, 2013

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Tonight's picture was taken on July 25 of 2008. Two days after Mattie was diagnosed with cancer. I will never forget this day. Why? Because July 25th is my birthday. We were all so traumatized after Mattie's diagnosis, which is why I suspect there is a lot of sadness and emotion wrapped up with my birthday even today. I truly do not like celebrating my birthday anymore. Not because I am getting one year older, but because in my mind I am transported back to the scene in this photo (and of course am reminded of the feelings of fear and terror of having Mattie diagnosed with a life threatening illness). You may notice Christmas lights behind us. Typically we do not have Christmas lights on our deck in July. But after Mattie was diagnosed, he requested that he be surrounded by Christmas lights. It certainly wasn't a request we were going to deny. So out came the Christmas displays and lights and Peter snapped a photo of us together for my birthday.


Fun Fact of the Day: The number of passengers arriving and departing per day at London's Heathrow Airport is 191,200.


Peter and I flew to London yesterday evening. It is hard to believe that our flight left on Wednesday at 6:30pm Eastern Standard Time and arrived on a totally different continent on Thursday around 12:15am (Washington, DC time). London is five hours ahead of DC and I feel like an absolute zombie. 

I was truly amazed to see that practically everyone was asleep on the flight over to London. My joke was the only people wide awake were me and the pilot! There is no sleeping for me on a plane and with every jolt of turbulence, I grow more and more concerned and uneasy. In fact, by the end of the flight, I had a death grip on Peter's wrist (which I wasn't aware of until he pointed it out to me) and I was practically humming or chanting that the flight had to be over. Thankfully we landed safely, as did my parents. If you don't share my fear of flying, I imagine this all sounds truly far fetched! But for me it is very real!

We spent part of the day walking Southampton. We visited Southampton last summer as well and it is interesting to see some of the town's changes in just one short year. I am exhausted (I fell asleep several times while typing!) but before signing off on the blog I wanted to end tonight's posting with a birthday wish from my mom.

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A Remembrance of an Unforgettable Teacher by Virginia R. Sardi

On Monday, July 15, as I was listening to the news of the day, an announcement was made concerning the impending 17^th anniversary of the downing of TWA Flight 800 in New York on July 17^th 1996. It struck me as chilling that so much time had elapsed since that horrendous loss of life and that there were still so many unanswered questions about what really brought down that plane. No doubt this tragic event impacted the psyche of all Americans and for those who had family or friends aboard that fateful flight, the tragedy of their great loss became a formidable reality.  Our family indirectly suffered too but not because a member of the family or a personal friend was aboard the aircraft, but because of the loss of a wonderful teacher, Lois Van Epps, who was Vicki’s English teacher at Edgemont High School in Scarsdale, New York.

In my mind, she had a profound effect on Vicki and her intellectual development in subtle but most encouraging ways. Her Dad and I already knew that Vicki did not gravitate towards things mathematical.  She was always the artistic and creative one who could be depended upon to choreograph dances that were good enough to be performed at school events. She liked to sing and was always a member of the school choir.  In our community Vicki had a reputation of taking part in many dance programs which she danced and choreographed although only a ninth grader.  She auditioned for The Gifted and Talented Performing Arts Program for high school students underwritten by New York State to promote the arts. She won a four year scholarship and studied at SUNY for one year. She never completed the program because our family moved to California. That year gave her an abiding lifelong interest in ballet and an appreciation of what it takes to achieve professional status as a ballet dancer.

But it took Lois Van Epps to point out that Vicki was a gifted writer who had what it took to become a professional writer if she pursued her interest in writing as a career. She explained that she had a talent for expressing herself in words where other students struggled to translate their thoughts into words that were logical and meaningful.  She thought Vicki was very imaginative and was impressed with her submission of a Gothic murder mystery which was an assignment she had given her class. She thought this talent would evolve as Vicki matured and zeroed in on the direction her life took.  Little did Lois Van Epps imagine the blogosphere in 1996 but if she were here today with us, she would not be surprised at the awesome blog that Vicki has created upon the death of her only son, Mattie in his memory. She knew that Vicki felt deeply about people, their emotions and how the events of life impact lives.  Although Lois Van Epps is not with us today, her prescient prediction that Vicki was a budding writer was right on target and should be part of the historical record of Vicki’s blog for Mattie! 

Therefore I conclude, Lois Van Epps will always be remembered fondly for recognizing one of Vicki’s greatest talents which is her ability to communicate heartwarming advice and share her feelings about life’s vicissitudes with hundreds of people through the power of her words!!

Happy Birthday and Many, Many More!!