Monday, November 11, 2013

Monday, November 11, 2013

Tonight's picture was taken in October of 2008. That Halloween evening, Mattie met up with his very close preschool buddy, Zachary. Together they went trick or treating. It was a very special night in so many ways. Mattie already had his first limb salvaging surgery by that point and was very tentative about moving around and being around kids with his wrapped up right arm. That evening, Zachary and Mattie went trick or treating with a couple of Zachary's neighbors. Any case, the other kids were getting tired of Mattie's slow pace. Remember while trick or treating it is dark outside and sidewalks can be really difficult to negotiate especially when they are not even. Mattie was afraid he would trip and fall on the arm that was operated on. The other kids were really pressuring Zachary to dump Mattie and instead go with them at a quicker pace. The quicker the pace the more candy you can obtain. In any case, Zachary was young and he could have selected to go with his neighbors but in the end he told them he was with his buddy Mattie and that they should go on ahead without him. I will never forget that dialogue or scene! EVER!!! After they went trick or treating together, you can see that Mattie was beginning his candy sorting process!!! Mattie loved to sort and it is ironic now that he is gone, Peter and I continue the tradition of sorting. Not for ourselves but for hundreds of families at Georgetown University Hospital.


Quote of the day: As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. ~ John Fitzgerald Kennedy

I think each day it is important, but especially on Veteran's Day may we reflect on the men and women who serve and have served our Country keeping us safe, sound, and having the luxury of freedom. May we never take this or them for granted.  

Last week my friend Tanja emailed me to let me know she had today off from teaching at her school. She planned for a couple of us to get together today. Though I wasn't expecting this at all, Tanja worked the entire day on helping me sort candy. Frankly this is NOT how I would have wanted to spend my day off, but that is the beauty of friendship. Tanja wanted to help me! Sorting candy gave us the time to spend together and to chat about all sorts of things. Bonding over sorting!!! Needless to say Tanja and I worked seven hours STRAIGHT. When her daughter Katharina got home from school, she found me and her mom sorting candy. She could have said hello and then walked away to manage homework and other things, but instead she jumped right in to help. I did not have to ask her! This caught my attention immediately. Tanja and Katharina got a good glimpse at what our lives have looked like for the past two weeks. The candy that we processed today came in large trash bags. I took a photo of one because it is hard to describe why sorting is so complicated, until you see an actual bag before us. Such large bags are not a good way to bring candy to the Hospital. Besides the fact that it is impossible to pick up because of weight, there is no rhyme or reason to the candy, not to mention this would be a terrible way to store the candy for a long period of time.

It seemed like we filled a ton of bags today. To be specific we filled 96 one gallon Ziploc bags!!! Katharina had me laughing, after sorting with us for at least two hours, she proposed.... you just want to fling this candy out after a while! I laughed because I said the same exact thing to Peter this weekend. After a certain point of doing this it can become overwhelming. As Tanja said to me today, seeing all of this could make you want to cry. It is that monumental! Totally agree! If we weren't motivated for the greater purpose, it would have been very easy to give up. In addition to having human help, we also had animal moral support. I was surrounded by a bird, dog, and guinea pig! Tanja's dog was a trooper and kept watching over us today, as if trying to figure out just what we were all doing!  

After hours and hours of sorting, we loaded everything into my car! Candy everywhere!!!

I not only had a full truck, but my back seat and front seat were filled!

When I arrived home, Peter had just gotten home from work. Thankfully because he helped me get all of this candy out of my car and upstairs. Our whole home is LINED with candy! I am really looking forward to bringing this to the Hospital next week!!!

We have piles everywhere and literally our home smells like a candy factory. This may not look like a lot right now, but once we stack it up for a total photo the picture will speak for itself.