Tonight's picture was taken in June of 2004. I remember when I was Mattie's age, I loved playing with the toy, Mr. Potato Head. Somehow I felt compelled to extend the family tradition, so I bought Mattie his own Potato Head. However, Mattie did not enjoy playing with this toy at ALL! In fact the only part of this toy Mattie got a kick out of was the actual glasses of which he would walk around our home wearing...... as you can see in this photo! I think it is hysterical that Mattie did not even wear the glasses correctly! He was a free and funny spirit!
Quote of the day: No one would remember the Good Samaritan if he had only had good intentions. ~ Margaret Thatcher
It is an odd feeling when I come across moms and little boys who are Mattie's age. Of course if Mattie were alive now, he would be 12 years old. But in my mind, Mattie will always be six or seven. Perhaps younger! Yesterday, I was walking in Washington, DC, and observed a mom walking with her young son. At first glance, my internal dialogue was.... that was once me. Then of course, that internal dialogue was followed by...... except my child died from cancer. The majority of children (thankfully!) I see out and about are not going to get diagnosed with cancer and then die. Somehow that image of the mom with this little boy on the street stayed with me all day. I am not sure why but it did. As the day wore on, and moved into today, a part of me wondered what our lives would look like today if Mattie were still in it?
This is a question I ask myself often. Mainly because I suspect all aspects of our lives would be different from how, where, and what we would be doing with our lives if Mattie were alive. Recently I had lunch with a friend who reminded me that once Mattie died, I could have easily done nothing, or I could just do an item drive once a year for the hospital. Any of those things would have been fine and more than acceptable. Yet that is not what I chose to do. Instead, I have taken action to help people directly in the community and also to try to change policies on a national level. I appreciated her saying this because what this also indicated to me is that she KNOWS what Mattie Miracle is about, she is paying attention, and if this matters to me, it matters to her. A great gift of friendship.
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