Tonight's picture was taken in December of 2003. This was classic Farmer Brown at work. Mattie was in Los Angeles and helping me pick oranges and grapefruits from my parent's trees. Actually I am not sure what Mattie liked best, the picking part or the playing with fruit. Once the fruit was off the tree, Mattie loved holding the fruit, trying to stack it, sort it, and so forth! He could do that for hours. He would take it in and out of the basket and he wanted to do this outside in the cold. Despite it being Los Angeles, don't let that fool you..... LA can also get cold and at times you can need a coat and it was one of those times back then! From the photo, you can see how Mattie was eyeing the fruit intently!!!
Quote of the day: Problems that remain persistently insoluble should always be suspected as questions asked in the wrong way. ~ Alan Watts
Quote of the day: Problems that remain persistently insoluble should always be suspected as questions asked in the wrong way. ~ Alan Watts
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Today I was invited to participate in a Round Table childhood cancer discussion held at the prestigious Cosmos Club in Washington, DC. The Round Table was hosted by the Alliance for Childhood Cancer and the
Coalition Against Childhood Cancer (CAC2). The Alliance for Childhood Cancer represents more than 20
national patient advocacy groups and professional medical and scientific
organizations and the CAC2 supports the advocacy efforts of childhood cancer
organizations throughout the Country. Mattie Miracle is an organizational member of CAC2. I included links below to both organizations.
The first Round Table discussion took place in September, today was a follow up discussion. These Round Tables are historic in a way because they are bringing
together many childhood cancer organizations from around the Country to develop a
unified childhood cancer advocacy platform. That may not sound tremendous or novel, but in a way it is!!!! Each childhood cancer organization has its own priorities, issues, and a particular cause and interest that it wants to lobby and advocate for on Capitol Hill. It makes sense if you think about it, because many of the leaders of these organizations have been directly impacted by childhood cancer. Therefore we are passionate about the issue and stand ready to make a difference. We come armed to correct a wrong for OUR child! Yet of course, from a legislator's standpoint these multiple messages are confusing and most likely muddy the waters. All the messages are compelling so whose message do you support?! The goal of the Round Table discussions is to pull us together to brainstorm the issues and develop a unified strategy and advocacy platform.
Naturally this can be challenging because we all have varied interests and agendas and yet from what I saw today, there was a real concerted effort for people to be heard and having a professional consultant at the helm guiding the process definitely helps with the flow and strategy. Needless to say, I wasn't sure what this three hour meeting was going to look like, but I felt as if I learned a lot and that is always a wonderful way to leave a meeting.
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