Tonight's picture was taken in October of 2006. If you have been following the blog for the past several nights, then you know I have shown you Halloween photos from 2002, 2003, and 2004 so far. Therefore, tonight's Halloween photo should be from 2005! However, on Halloween of 2005, Mattie was admitted to Virginia Hospital Center with sepsis from an ear infection. I will never forget that moment in time! I knew Mattie was getting ill two days before his admission, because I took him to see his pediatrician and told her I suspected he had an ear infection. She assured me Mattie was fine and in her usual patronizing tone dismissed me as an overly cautious and anxious parent. Well don't you know it, I read Mattie's signs and symptoms correctly! Because two days later he was vomiting profusely, spiked an incredibly high fever and he was so ill that he couldn't be managed at home. When his pediatrician examined him in the hospital, she could see he had a full blown ear infection that had spread throughout his system! From that moment on the dynamic changed between us. On future visits when I complained that Mattie had a symptom, I was taken seriously! In any case, in 2005, Mattie and I created this calico cat costume together. We bought this black sweat suit at Target and then went to AC Moore and bought felt and created calico spots and a black tail. Mattie loved our cat, Patches, and he wanted to look like her. However because he got so ill, he was NEVER able to wear his costume or go trick or treating in 2005. So I saved the costume and he wore it in 2006 instead.
Quote of the day: If you reconnect with nature and the wilderness you will not only find the meaning of life, but you will experience what it means to be truly alive. ~ Sylvia Dolso
Though we just got back from Canada, Peter boarded a plane today for Boston. He will be there for the rest of the week. In comparison to his days working in developing nations, I have to imagine domestic travel is a whole lot easier. Nonetheless, travel in general is debilitating regardless. Especially when it is work related and it involves interfacing with people. Certainly when Mattie were alive and Peter traveled that added a whole other dimension of complexity to our lives. Now of course there is no Mattie and when either Peter or I go away, one of us is left alone. A single digit is never very strong alone.
I was hoping to have a slower week after I came back from Canada, but apparently slow isn't in my lexicon. I have so much to catch up on and while doing those things today, I was contacted by the combined federal campaign (CFC) office about participating in a charity fair next week at the Department of Homeland Security. The CFC is the world's largest and most successful annual workplace charity campaign, with almost 200 CFC campaigns throughout the country and overseas raising millions of dollars each year. Pledges made by Federal civilian, postal and military donors during the campaign season (September 1st to December 15th) support eligible non-profit organizations that provide health and human service benefits throughout the world.
In any case, Mattie Miracle applies each year to be a CFC charity. However, you have to be selected to participate in these fairs. You can't just sign up and go! So this is our first time we are being invited to attend, and this will give us the opportunity to introduce the Foundation to federal employees who are completely unfamiliar with our Foundation and the work that we accomplish.
I wasn't planning on this event, so it will take me a few days to get my materials and trinkets together to be prepared for next week's set up! But I felt like we couldn't pass on this opportunity especially since we have never been asked to do this before.
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