Tonight's picture was taken in January of 2003. Mattie was sitting in his high chair. Not one of his favorite places to be or to eat in. In fact, when Mattie began eating cereals and things at four months, he refused sitting in anything other than his car seat. Mind you Mattie did not like the car seat at all when it was in the car, but when it sat on the floor in our home, he LOVED it. So much so that the first few months of his life, if Mattie wasn't sleeping on my shoulder, then he was in his car seat. Literally I would put Mattie in the car seat and put the car seat in his crib! It was a sight to see but back then whatever worked was what was done! The desperation of being a new parent. As for the high chair, Mattie eventually got the hang of it and was motivated to eat certain things like crackers, oatmeal, pureed pears, and sweet potatoes (his favorites!).
Quote of the day: The ultimate expression of generosity is not in giving of what you have, but in giving of who you are. ~ Johnnetta B. Cole
Well the day came in which I said goodbye to my Blackberry and transitioned over to an iphone. Frankly I do not succumb to peer pressure and could care less who has made fun of me over the years for my phone preference. Peter has been preparing me for months now that this change was imminent for me and vital to do, but his calendar reminder which I explained in last night's blog posting was the push that I needed. I do not care for change in general and I particularly do not like changes that have emotional connections associated with them. For me, I had an emotional attachment to the Blackberry. However, my phone was on its last legs, the Internet connectivity had stopped working, and the phone just couldn't handle the amount of emails and text messages I stored on it! So all these drawbacks and Peter's rationality, helped me to get into the phone store today. Thankfully Peter took me to an AT&T store to transition over because I find Apple stores challenging sensory wise. That is a whole other conversation.
The AT&T representative who worked with me clearly LOVES technology and I think he was frankly gitty to help a Blackberry user become an iphone user. He acknowledged my hesitation, but said I would catch onto it and then most likely never want to go back! Any case, this fellow made the whole purchase very easy and I loved the fact that I received a free phone upgrade today. That alone made me day! Any case, Peter sat with me for HOURS helping me transfer over my contacts, establish my three email accounts, and also help me understand how the phone works. Needless to say, my mom and Karen (my lifetime friend) were both text messaging me back and forth for hours about this transition. I sensed elation from them that I finally made this decision.
In the midst of this big transition, Peter and I went for lunch at Clyde's in Tyson Corner. We are fortunate to know Becca Fischer, the executive chef there. However, prior to working in Tysons, Becca worked at the Clyde's in Alexandria, VA. Which was Mattie's favorite restaurant. After Mattie died, the manager wanted to support us in some way and when he heard about our Foundation Walk, he offered to connect us with Becca. I had never met Becca in all the years Mattie visited Clyde's. She clearly cooked for my son, and that alone is a special connection. In any case, in 2011, Becca donated all the hot food items to our Walk. But you should note that she not only gives us the food but comes to the Walk to cook it and serve it. She is a dynamo and with a huge heart. She gives Mattie Miracle 100% of the proceeds from the food! Becca is passionate about our mission and today she committed to coming to our Walk in May, which happens to be our 5th year anniversary. While talking to Becca, you can't help but be inspired by her. Her kindness and generosity inspired me so much, I was in tears.
For those of you not familiar with Becca, I have included a link below of a recent article in which she was interviewed. If you go to the Tysons Corner Clyde's (http://www.clydes.com/tysons), I highly recommend that you ask your server to have Becca come out and say hello. Just tell her you are a Mattie Miracle supporter and appreciate her incredible generosity of time and skills. All of which help us raise money for childhood cancer.
http://www.womanaroundtown.com/locations/new-york/wats-proust-questionnaire-rebecca-fischer-executive-chef-at-clydes-of-tysons-corner
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