Tonight's picture was taken on May 11, 2009, at the Mattie March. There was a lot going on in this photo. Mattie was being pushed in his wheelchair around the track by Robbie, one of his favorite child life volunteers. However, peering behind the wheelchair was Mattie's buddy, Campbell. Mattie and Campbell were very close kindergarten buddies. In fact, in many ways, this was a photo of the three amigos. Mattie, Campbell, and Charlotte. Mattie considered Charlotte his "girlfriend" and he even gave her an engagement ring. Well of sorts! After his dental cleaning while he was in kindergarten, he got to pick out a prize and he made a b-line for a ring. It was a premeditated choice, because he planned on giving it to Charlotte. I had no idea at the time, until one day I was driving them to a birthday party and Mattie decided to hand Charlotte the ring and explained that he planned on marrying her. She seemed fine with the idea, but then again in Charlotte's mind, Campbell, Mattie, and her were going to be college roommates with each other! Any case, they were all good friends who appreciated each other and they stood by Mattie healthy and with cancer.
Quote of the day: Stand up for someone who is in need so that it will build confidence in you to stand up for yourself at times when required... ~ Adil Adam Memon
When I found this quote tonight, it immediately resonated with me! Somehow advocating for someone else gives us confidence in ourselves in ways that we really couldn't achieve in any other fashion. I experienced this first hand when Mattie was battling cancer. I may have been a good advocate before, but when Mattie was sick, I learned to become an excellent one. Certainly I had the proper motivation, but in a medical setting if you do not advocate for your child and yourself, forget it. You and everything else around you will fall through the cracks. Unfortunately the louder you scream the more attention you get! I remember on numerous occasions, friends from the outside world would come and visit me inside the hospital and they couldn't understand my behavior. They couldn't understand my anger and why I had to present and talk the way that I did! But entering a hospital and living there is a lot like moving to a foreign country. It has its own nuisances, language, culture. It is best to learn how to operate in that culture in order to survive. Which is what I had to do in order to help Mattie through his battle. So as a result I do feel at times a level of confidence, because in so many ways I feel as if Peter and I lived through some of the worst of what life has to offer.
It has been a full day for Peter and me! Peter flew to Florida and back today on business! Lucky that it wasn't me. That would have done me in for the rest of the week! Peter left me at the computer this morning and found me at the computer when he returned home tonight. It has just been non-stop today. So I am signing off, because I need time away from a computer screen!
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