Tonight's picture was taken in November of 2008. You maybe asking yourself.... why was Mattie using his left foot to operate the laptop? Well the answer to that question is simple! The left leg was the only limb that did not undergo a surgical procedure. All the other limbs had tumors in them with large bones that were removed and replaced with prosthetics. Therefore, Mattie was determined to play and the only way he could do this was by using his foot. In fact his toes and foot became as dexterous as a hand. I wouldn't say Mattie was in love with computer games but given his confined status, he gravitated to the computer.
Quote of the day: The most basic and powerful way to connect to another person is to listen. Just listen. Perhaps the most important thing we ever give each other is our attention..... a loving silence often has far more power to heal and to connect than the most well-intentioned words. ~ Rachel Naomi Remen
Tomorrow the candy delivery begins!!! This week the candy will be making its way to the following places:
1) The Ronald McDonald House (Falls Church, VA; http://www.rmhcdc.org/)
2) Georgetown University Hospital
3) The Ronald McDonald House (Washington, DC)
4) HSC Pediatric Center (http://hscpediatriccenter.org/)
5) Special Love (http://www.specialove.org/)
This evening, I came across an article in the Wall Street Journal entitled, After the loss of a spouse, There is no right amount of time before moving on. What caught my attention in this title was the two words, MOVING ON. Those two words set me off. To me moving on means forgetting the person who died, whereas moving forward means just that, you must find a way to continue living but you carry that person's memory with you on this journey. So I have to admit the title of the article already clouded my impression of what was to come. Unfortunately the article never got any better. I do not plan on judging any of the widowers in the article because we all grieve differently, need different things, process loss differently, and therefore how we move forward will naturally differ. I am not quite sure how any one of us would manage a request from a dying spouse asking us not to remarry? I suppose our natural inclination is to honor the request as the person is on his/her deathbed, maybe??? But then what happens after the person actually dies? In this case, as the article indicates, the man remarried despite assuring his dying wife he would never remarry. It is easy to judge this man with disdain, but then when you read some of the findings from research about the differences between men and women after the death of a spouse it may help to explain his decision and personal commentary throughout the article.
An excerpt from the article:
Over the years, various studies have shown men are more likely to seek out a new relationship, and to do it sooner, than women, Dr. Wortman says. She offers findings from various studies: In the first year after a spouse’s death, 54% of men have a sexual relationship, compared with 7% of women. By 25 months after a spouse’s death, 61% of men had a new relationship, versus 19% of women, and 25% of men had remarried, versus 5% of women. Men have more opportunity. Because women live longer, widows outnumber widowers. Yet men who are most likely to look for a new mate were more emotionally reliant on their partner, Dr. Wortman says. For a woman, though, the more emotionally reliant she was on her husband, the less interest she has in finding a new mate, research shows.
After the loss of a spouse, There is no right amount of time before moving on:
http://online.wsj.com/articles/after-the-loss-of-a-spouse-there-is-no-right-amount-of-time-before-moving-on-1416251499#livefyre-comment
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