Tonight's picture was taken in March of 2009. For Mattie, physical therapy sessions were never boring! Anna (on the right), Mattie's physical therapist, learned quickly that to have Mattie as a patient meant one had to think outside the box. You had to engage Mattie mentally but in a creative way, otherwise, he would not buy into the therapy process. Especially when the process was painful and required him to expend energy he did not have. Anna rose to the challenge and was an outstanding therapist and match for our family. On the left, was Meg. Meg was a child life intern at the hospital. When I first met Meg, she was different from the other child life interns I had come to know. Mainly because she has a more bold and take charge kind of attitude, and she has the spirit and determination that enabled her to figure out a way to relate to Mattie (by March, Mattie was distrusting of most hospital staff and really did not allow many people into his life). Meg became Mattie's physical therapy racing partner. Meg would compete against Mattie and egg him on, in order to motivate him to get up and do his exercises and participate in therapy. She was very effective and I was grateful because I needed whatever help I could get to encourage and inspire Mattie.
Quote of the day: If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome. ~ Anne Bradstreet
I removed the winter themed ribbon I tied around the tree and replaced it with a springy yellow butterfly today in remembrance of Mattie. In addition, we also placed three decorative birds on the tree and an orange wind chime!
In the midst of these natural wonders, I received three text messages out of the blue today from friends. All connected to us through Mattie. Needless to say, I went from having a non-social Sunday scheduled to one in which I am now going out to brunch and dinner.
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