Thursday, October 10, 2013

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Tonight's picture was taken in October of 2007. Mattie was five years old and we were invited to a preschool friend's Halloween party. That year Mattie wanted to be an air force pilot. I remember going with Mattie to pick out this costume. At the party, there were all sorts of games for the kids. One game was to wrap people up as mummies. Myself and my friend Julia volunteered to be wrapped up. Check out Mattie's face. He is on the bottom right hand side of the photo near Julia in the yellow shirt. His expression was priceless!!!


Quote of the day: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. ~ Margaret Mead


Today was another stellar grey and rainy day in DC. Despite the torrential rain, I got up and out to my zumba class. I needed to move around after being home for days. Later today, Peter and I will be connected by phone to a conference in Dallas and present to a group of about 50 psycho-oncology professionals our mission and vision for the Foundation on a national level. The conference is in Texas, which is clearly on a different time zone from DC. I have been thoroughly confused as to the time we are being asked to present, despite confirming it yesterday. We agreed on 3pm EST. So Peter and I both called in and we waited on the line for 30 minutes. Through the process of elimination and emails, we determined that our call time is really 5pm. Two hours off, I chalk that up to a Vicki moment. Certainly for those who are used to conference calls, this is no big deal. You just get on the phone two hours later!

However for those of you who know me, you know that I strongly dislike the telephone! I had to psych myself up to get on the call at 3pm! Now I will have to do it again at 5pm. Mattie conditioned me as an infant to keep my calls short or not make any at all. This desire only became more pronounced when Mattie was battling cancer. The phone ringing and me being distracted from him while in the hospital, made Mattie very anxious and very unhappy. So much so that with each hospital admission, I literally disconnected our room phone from the wall! Unfortunately my dislike for the phone did not heal or improve four years after Mattie's death. The ironic part is prior to having Mattie, I was a BIG phone talker. I could talk for hours. 

So the idea of today's conference call to people I don't know and can't see was beyond daunting. I am not sure it is a fear per se, but it is a very uncomfortable feeling. Especially when presenting about Mattie and the work we are doing. I prefer to see people's faces, to read them as I am delivering content, and from what I am observing I can tweak my speed and even what I am saying or how it is delivered. This same dynamic can't be done by phone.   

Peter and I presented for 30 minutes, we think it went very well. We also had the chance to sit on the rest of the two hour call and hear about the standards in more detail. Also at the conference was a scientific poster created about our national project. Presenting the poster were four members of our team:
Andrea Patenaude, Dana Farber; Wendy Pelletier, Alberta Children's Hospital;
Bob Noll, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh; and Mary Jo Kupst, Medical College of Wisconsin! So I am happy to report that it was a successful day for the Foundation both logistically on the ground and also through the phone wires!