Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Tuesday, January 13, 2015 -- Mattie died 279 weeks ago today.

Tonight's picture was taken in December of 2007. Mattie was visiting Florida. Right before this photo was taken there was a storm. After the storm had stopped we decided to go outside for a walk. Mattie needed fresh air and to move around. On our walk, Mattie found this wonderful palm frond. In typical Mattie fashion he wanted to take this leaf back HOME with us. This leaf made it to our hotel room and stayed there for a week. Fortunately I was able to convince Mattie that we weren't going to pack the leaf and take it to DC. Nonetheless, I did break off a piece of the leaf and packed it. This portion remained in Mattie's bedroom for years. 


Quote of the day: In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins--not through strength but by perseverance. ~ H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Good evening all, it is Peter writing tonight (just a one night guest appearance).  I wanted to share my own perspective on daily living since Vicki writes every day (which is an unimaginably challenging task) about a myriad of topics, and I like so many, just get to enjoy the fruits of her daily blogging. Tonight's perspective is on interacting and connecting with your child.

As our faithful readers probably know, Vicki counts the weeks since Mattie passed away on each Tuesday (since he died on a Tuesday).  I count the days, each and every.  I have several things that have become part of my daily routine that involves reminding myself of the day's count.  I take a few moments several times across the course of a typical day to remember the number, reflect and recall my son.  I have been doing this each day now for 1,953 days. 

I am sure upon initially reading this you are thinking "how morbid" or "how strange, but you see, unlike the dads of healthy, living children, who have so many, many milestones, events, interactions across the course of any given day (for example, like saying good morning, or dropping them at school, or texting or even having lunch with them), I do not have those opportunities.  

So, I decided on the second day after Mattie's death that I would continue to create those opportunities as best I could, so that for just a few fleeting moments each day, I could feel like I had some sort of connection, a reminder of my son.

So to those with healthy, happy, vivacious children, please make sure to treasure and cherish the special gift you have, each and every day, of being able to interact and to engage with your child or children, as there are some of us in this world who have only counting days as a means of connecting with ours.