Tonight's picture was taken in October of 2008. We took a walk with Mattie in our neighborhood. He was home between treatments and as you can see he was walking around and had full use of his right arm. This was the tell tale sign that this photo was taken pre-surgeries. Mattie was transformed through surgery into a child who not only was battling cancer but into a child with major physical challenges and disabilities. However, what I want you to notice is Mattie's right hand. Mattie never went anywhere empty handed. There was always a hot wheel car, train, or plane that came along with us. I guess he never knew when one would be needed! But to me that spoke to Mattie's level of curiosity and desire to want to explore new locations and incorporate his world of play into these new adventures.
Quote of the day: A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way. ~ Mark Twain
I am not sure the explanation for my foul mood, but I have had one for days. Of course a severe headache isn't helping matters and perhaps sorting through Mattie's room is also not therapeutic for the mind or body. It would have been a lot easier to stay in bed today, but I did get up, out, and to zumba class. The one consistent thing that I have found assists with grieving is being active. I mean physically active. We all have our outlets, some people can jog, run, or go to the gym. None of these appeal to me quite like hearing music and being around other people. I am not watching other people in zumba class, instead I am just trying to listen to the music and move around. Somehow that helps and resets me for a little while!
After class, I met with a woman who wants to start her own non-profit. Not in the cancer world, but to support another disease. This lady and I share a mutual friend, which is how we became connected electronically. It is funny when I came across Twain's quote tonight I was laughing hysterically! Leave it to Twain to give us such a vivid analogy!!! Any cat owner gets the problem IMMEDIATELY with regard to holding a cat by its tail! Grab a cat by the tail and you are going to get scratched up badly. Chances are you will learn never to do that again. But the analogy is true about life. I could have read about how to start up a non-profit or even observed someone else do it. But having to go through the painstaking details first hand, has given me knowledge that few have. The irony is I don't really realize this until I have a meeting like the one I had today. We chatted for two hours about the complexities of starting up and managing a non-profit. It was a very helpful meeting for both of us. But at the core, those of us who want to run a non-profit have a personal calling. Something has inspired us, impacted us deeply, and changed our lives. So much so, that this cause becomes us. I am not sure that is true about other lines of work. But I know for myself, Mattie Miracle and Vicki are sometimes synonymous. Which is a good thing and a bad thing wrapped up into one!!!
Later in the day, I had one of my many psychosocial conference calls. Mattie Miracle started an initiative in February of 2013. At a conference in Huntington Beach, CA, we hosted a psychosocial think tank. After the think tank meeting, in which psychologists, social workers, and psychiatrists from around the country (and two international professionals) were in attendance, we were assigned to participate in one of four different working groups. Each working group has a conference call per month, and I sit on three of these working groups. Needless to say that is a lot of conference calls and things to juggle besides the rest of the Foundation work. Nonetheless, it is remarkable to see just how much this working group has accomplished since February. I mean really noteworthy. We are sifting through the psychological research and crafting guidelines to help manage the psychological, social, and emotional care offered to children and their families battling cancer in hospitals across the Country. I remind myself that if the process was easy, the standards would already exist. But one thing is for certain, standards are needed and psychological care is just as vital as the biological care for cancer. You can't have one without the other. Or let's put it this way, you can, but there are huge ramifications to a child and family's mental health and overall outcome without such integrated care.
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