Tonight's picture was taken in January of 2003. This was Mattie's first New Year's! Peter and I will never forget Mattie's first New Year's Eve, mainly because he was UP for the ball going down over Time Square in New York! Mattie was a night owl and he had no concept for sleeping or napping!
Quote of the day: We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness. ~ Charlie Chaplin
The highlight of my day today was an email I received from Carrie. Carrie is a board member of childhood cancer non-profit. I met Carrie years ago at Dr. Shad's home. Since that brief encounter, I have been connected with Carrie ever since. Carrie caught my attention at Dr. Shad's home NOT because she is a parent who has a child with cancer, but because she was supporting her friend whose child was battling cancer. Not only was she supporting her friend but then became the executive director of her friend's Foundation. In this position, her leadership grew the Foundation to great heights and set the Foundation on solid ground. Carrie has since moved to North Carolina, but even though she is no longer local, she still writes to me. I can only imagine what kind of friend she must have been, based on how she reaches out to me, and we only met each other once or twice.
One of Carrie's children, Will, got to know about Mattie and his story. So much so, that each year in the organization that Carrie ran, Just TRYAN it, Will would dedicate his triathlon racing and fundraising to Mattie. He did this several years in a row. Last year, Will even made a video about this! Today, Carrie wrote to me to let me know that on January 24, Will we be having a bar mitzvah and during his speech he will be mentioning Mattie. That Mattie has made an impact on Will's life, and the irony is, Will never had a chance to meet Mattie. How do you like that? Do you think it is possible for a person to influence another's without ever meeting them? Well if it could be done, I knew Mattie could do it!
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