Thursday, September 12, 2013

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Tonight's picture was taken in September of 2008. Though Mattie's PICU room was the size of a postage stamp, we accomplished a lot in there! Dancing even occurred there, as you can see from this photo! But Mattie wasn't dancing to just any song. That day we received a special song that was composed just for Mattie. It was sent to us electronically by the Peru office of the company Peter works for. Peru wanted to show their support of us! Several the folks in the Peru office had their own band, so they got together and wrote a song called, My Little Child. I can still hear this song in my head today, and apparently when Mattie heard the song it caused him to sway his body and dance. It was a priceless song, an unforgettable moment, and it brought us much happiness that day!


Quote of the day: Legacy is not what's left tomorrow when you're gone. It's what you give, create, impact and contribute today while you're here that then happens to live on. ~ Rasheed Ogunlaru


In May of 2010, eight months after Mattie died, his class raised money and dedicated a beautiful oak tree to Mattie's school in his memory. We visit this memorial oak tree on holidays, special occasions, and anniversaries. We would be lost without this tree because it gives us a space in nature to reflect on Mattie's existence and by decorating his tree with each special occasion, it captures the attention of others and causes them to take notice. To us, this is NOT just an ordinary tree. Back in 2009, when we were working with Mattie's school to select a tree, we chose an oak tree. The oak has great significance. Mattie LOVED acorns. He collected them and actually gave them to people as gifts! He loved looking for the perfect acorn with its cap on it. However, oaks also became important to him because he quickly deduced that his tent moth caterpillars that he brought home each spring (he would find and collect them in his preschool and elementary school's playground) ONLY ate oak leaves. So the natural choice in 2009, when asked what kind of tree Mattie would like was.... an OAK!!! But Mattie's school is located in Alexandria, VA, and Alexandria is susceptible to several fungus which have been known to decimate oak trees. So we could plant another oak, but we have been presented with three other tree options today.

Mattie's school would like to replant a tree this Fall and have thoughtfully told me that the new tree will be the same size as the current tree being removed. So this won't be an immature sapling going in. Picking the next tree for Mattie is more complicated for me for some reason. The three options are: 1) Yellowwood, 2) Sweet Gum, and 3) Red Maple. I have NEVER seen a yellowwood tree in my life, or at least I don't think so. It is a rare tree to the north east, which may explain why I am not familiar with it. The Sweet Gum trees are ALL over Roosevelt Island. I did not connect the dots until I saw a photo of the fruit that falls from these trees. Finally the Red Maple, is a very common tree. Most of us could easily identify it.

I have included photos and a description of each tree below. Also my thoughts on each tree are in orange. If only the blog had a feature where I could take a poll and have my readers vote on a favorite tree. I would be curious to hear your opinion, if you would like to share it with me. Which tree would you choose and you feel represents Mattie? You can let me know by either posting a comment directly to this posting (just click on the comment link) or just email me (Vicki@mattiemiracle.com).

Yellowwood Tree (considered one of the rarest trees in Eastern North America) is native to the Southeastern United States. It is a medium sized deciduous tree that can grow on average to 33 to 49 feet tall. In the fall, the leaves turn a yellow, gold, to orange color and in the spring, the tree produces fragrant flowers that resemble wisteria.

What captures me about this tree is its uniqueness, its orange/gold color in the fall, and the fact that it BLOOMS!

Red Maple Tree is one of the most common deciduous trees in Eastern North America. At maturity the tree usually reaches 49 feet. Its main characteristic is its deep crimson red foliage in the Fall. These trees are known to live about 150 years.

This tree screams out bold, like Mattie and red was his favorite color. But it a common tree, not that this means anything.

Sweet Gum Tree is a deciduous tree that is recognizable by the combination of its five-pointed star-shaped leaves and its hard, spiked fruits. On average the tree grows to 33 to 55 feet and can live to up to 400 years. The rich dark green, smooth, shiny, star-shaped leaves generally turn brilliant orange, red, and purple colors in the autumn.

This tree has a star shaped leaf, turns vibrant colors in the fall, and has an interesting shaped fruit.

I end tonight's posting with a photo of Tim's orange tie for day 4 of the Orange Tie Campaign. Tim has worn an orange tie each day this week in honor of Mattie's life. Tim does this the week after September 8, to acknowledge a special little person who is know longer with us. Mattie would have loved this tie, because I have NO doubt he would have said it reminded him of Nemo (a clownfish), from the movie, Finding Nemo!