Sunday, September 14, 2014

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Tonight's picture was taken in September of 2008. In fact this photo was snapped in FAO Schwartz in NYC. We drove Mattie up to New York City to be evaluated by doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering. Ideally because we wanted to enroll Mattie in an experimental trial so that he would have access to an immunotherapy drug to treat his osteosarcoma (this was in addition to the therapy he was receiving at Georgetown). However the only way he could get access to this drug was to go to NY! To make this journey, the process had to be fun for Mattie, which involved visiting toy stores, going on boat rides, and taking an elevator ride up to the top floor of the Empire States Building! All very memorable for us! 

Quote of the day: But the memories that hang heaviest are the easiest to recall. They hold in their creases the ability to change one's life, organically, forever. Even when you shake them out, they've left permanent wrinkles in the fabric of your soul. ~ Julie Gregory

Peter and I spent a good part of our day outside! I would have to say that Fall is definitely here. I honestly do not know how we went from Summer to Fall so quickly, but it is happening and I am NOT happy about it at all!. 

In June when we went to the Outer Banks, we came home with a Butterfly Ginger Lily plant from the Elizabethan Gardens. We have been nurturing this plant all summer. It produces the most delicate and fragrant flowers. The flowers smell NOTHING like a lily but like a gardenia instead!!! However these flowers are one hit wonders. Once they bloom they don't last more than a day or so. They are that fragile. But each bud seems to produce MULTIPLE flowers. It is totally incredible. In any case, I have been perplexed by the name "butterfly" in the name of this plant until today. Peter snapped this photo and when I saw it, immediately I saw that the blossom looks just like a butterfly! So now I totally get why the plant is called a butterfly ginger lily!

The highlight to Peter's day was receiving a gift in the mail. The funny part however is he doesn't know who the gift is from. There was NO note and no return label or any information. It is always very special to be thought about and maybe something even more special not knowing who the gift is from. But clearly it is someone who knows Peter likes coffee, that we gravitate to red things (because that was Mattie's favorite color), and that Peter and Mattie LOVE flashlights. So this has to be a person who knows us. Needless to say, whether an adult or a child, I would say, there is something magical about receiving a gift, and I would say someone made Peter's day. He truly felt special today. 

We went back to Mattie's tree today at his school. This is a photo of the tree from yesterday. I am showing you this as a comparison to the photo below. 

This is what we did to the tree today. We literally dug all around the base of the tree. We added four bags of top soil around the roots of the tree. Then we planted close to 100 bulbs (daffodils and crocus) around the tree, and then added four bags of mulch on top of everything. Hopefully this will truly protect the base of the tree. We have planted bulbs around Mattie's previous trees. This is a tradition of Peter's, and it is lovely to visit the tree around Mattie's birthday and to see flowers springing up around the tree! 

A new addition to our balcony today is this glorious butterfly! I will be leaving him outside during the Fall and Winter months and hopefully he will add some color to the grayness that is in store for us. Many of our plants on our balcony stay green throughout the winter which helps!