Tonight's picture was taken on August 9th of 2009. Mattie and his friend Abbie went to the Lego store located within our local mall. Linda, Mattie's Child Life Specialist, arranged for this very special visit. After store hours, two Lego master builders met with Mattie and allowed him to create whatever he wanted in the store. Linda understood Mattie was dying (in fact, a month after this photo was taken, Mattie died) and wanted to give him a special evening. Given that Mattie LOVED Legos, this was a wonderful and memorable outing for all of us. You can see the finished product that Mattie and Abbie created together with the help of Lego master builders. What you need to know however was that Mattie did not want to build a structure from a kit (I imagine because by that point Mattie had built just about every kit in the store while battling cancer). He wanted to design his own creation and he chose a NYC taxi. Most likely he selected a yellow taxi because he had recently visited New York City during his experimental treatments at Sloan Kettering. We still have Mattie's taxi with us today. It sits on a wrought iron rack that we have in our living room. A rack that displays many of Mattie's creations!
Quote of the day: Sometimes you have to be apart from people you love, but that doesn't make you love them any less. Sometimes you love them more. ~ Nicholas Sparks
Peter and I tried to stay awake for as long as possible last night. However, neither of us slept well and we were up very early. We continue to be on Mediterranean time. When I woke up this morning, I did not know where I was. In fact, I thought I was still on a ship. I feel as if I am bobbing up and down in the water and my head and body haven't adjusted to solid land yet. I have found that post-cruises, I always need to take Dramamine for several days afterwards. If I don't, I get seasickness. I am sure there is a logical explanation for this occurrence, but I am not researching it. I am simply accepting it and base this knowledge on my past experiences.
We completed several important chores today that we all have to do when coming back from a vacation.... laundry, grocery shopping, going through mail, and in our case caring for all our plants. Our friend Maria watered all our green friends while we were gone for 18 days. She did a fantastic job, our plants really respond to her and they grew leaps and bounds while we were away. It is SO special to come back to greenery! In fact, since Mattie's death, greenery is vital to us. It is the only living thing around us that we care for. Therefore, when I have come home in the past and found dead plants, I was besides myself. I am grateful that Maria and our plants get along so well and that they not only thrived but grew while we were away.
I may be off the Ship and back in the USA, but Peter is still amusing me with expressions we picked up from our fellow British passengers. For the life of me, I heard the word "cheers" more often than I could count, and I learned that cheers means thank you! Here are some other fun words we learned along our journey!
British word --- Our American translation!!!
wellies - rain boats
no worries - you're welcome
jacketed potato -baked potato
lift - elevator
aubergine - eggplant
banger - sausage
bonnet - the hood of one's car
chaps - men or boys
chips - French fries
water closet - bathroom
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