Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Tonight's picture was taken in November of 2002. Mattie was seven months old and I just love his facial expression here.... as if he was saying to me.... "yes you have my attention!!!" Mattie was still spinning his toy with his left hand but focused on me with his eyes while I captured this moment! Mattie was the ultimate multi-tasker.

Quote of the day: Put your heart,mind, and soul into even your smallest acts. This is the secret to success. ~  Swami Sivananda

Tonight's photos I captured on my own camera. Which wasn't easy to do at the Walk, because literally I am jumping from one thing to the other! Which is why I am truly grateful that we hire, Herman, a professional photographer to capture our event for us. 

This two year old cutie coming down the track is Gigi! Gigi is Brandon's niece. As my faithful readers know, Brandon was Mattie's big buddy at the hospital. Mattie and Brandon were diagnosed with cancer around the same time, and despite their age difference, they were very close and good for each other. Mattie really relied on Brandon and even when Brandon went into remission, he came often to the hospital to visit Mattie. To this day, we are all still connected as families. 

The lovely lady in this photo is Mary. The two little ones in the stroller, Henry and Christian, are her twins. Mary was Mattie's technology teacher at St. Stephen's and St. Agnes. Mary was truly devoted to Mattie and would visit him practically every week at the hospital, she even gave him his own school laptop to work and play with. It was on that computer that Mattie created the most beautiful paintings and even recorded his voice for me. In fact, a couple of months ago, Mary sent me that voice recording. But to this day, I still haven't found the courage to listen to it. I can remember the night in his bedroom at home that he recorded that particular song he was singing to me. It was a song he made up for me, in which he entitled it 'una moona.' Which was what he used to call me. Mary and I still keep in touch often, and she is another special person Mattie has brought into my world. 

This cutie is Abbie. Abbie is the sister of John. John and Mattie went to preschool together, and John and I have always been close buddies. Though Abbie did not know Mattie personally, she has heard about him through her brother and family members. Abbie found a tent moth caterpillar at the Walk and came over to show me. You can see it crawling up her arm! This is very reminiscent of Mattie because this is exactly what he did during the Walk of 2009! In his wheelchair he was collecting caterpillars in a cup! 

I snapped a photo of the Lego tent at one point during the day. Really whatever point you pass it, it is just super busy. 

You can see that one of the structures they made by the Lego tent was the Washington Monument! It was huge!

I was able to capture the three ladies working under the food tent.....Heather, Rachel, and Becca! Heather is the sous chef at Clyde's at Tyson's Corner, Rachel is Becca's daugher, and Becca is the Executive Chef at Clyde's at Tyson's Corner. This team does an extraordinary job and they do it all with a smile! 

In year's past, Tanja always assisted Becca under the food tent. But this year thanks to Heather joining our team, I was able to reassign Tanja! It worked out beautifully for us because with launching a new walk concept, the challenge wall, I needed someone with Tanja's skills to help us keep the wall flowing, organized, and still feeling user friendly! What you may not realize is Tanja was out there for four hours doing this, which was greatly appreciated!

Peter and my parents posed for a photo with Tricia (Mattie's favorite HEM/ONC nurse) and her husband Mike and daughter Nicole! Nicole is a loyal follower of the Foundation, and like her mom, comes to ALL of our Walks! The day would not be the same without either one of them. 

Norma and her eldest daughter Gabby are also loyal followers of the Foundation and come to ALL of our Walks. They ran a marathon in the morning, but still made it their business to come to the Walk and show their support. Norma was one of Mattie's sedation nurses. Mattie primarily worked with Debbi, our sedation nurse angel, but there were times in which Debbi wasn't available. There were other people on the sedation team, and the only other nurse I trusted outside of Debbi was Norma. Norma was competent and compassionate and I will never forget how she helped us. Norma also understood the emotional toll this all had on me and on several occasions came to the hospital with amazing baked goods created by Gabby. Gabby is an outstanding baker and I still remember her chocolate cake... one should need a prescription to eat it, it is that special!

This cutie is Norah! Norah is Linda's daughter. Linda was Mattie's child life specialist and the main inspiration for why we contribute to Georgetown University Hospital. We could not have survived at Georgetown or through the hellish 14 months that we did without Linda. Linda made Mattie's life more tolerable, and for that I will never forget her. She understood Mattie, advocated for him, wanted to make his existence better and practically moved any obstacle in the way to achieve that, and was there for Peter and I CONSTANTLY. 

Notice that Norah is holding a Bug Mobile (one of the items kids could create at the Walk)! Mattie would have been pleased. 

As my faithful readers know, I had a dear friend, Margaret. Margaret was Mattie's preschool teacher, who became a close friend of mine. Pictured here is Margaret's daughter Ali and Ali's children, Parker and Charlotte. Though Margaret is no longer physically with us, her spirit lives on at the Walk through her family and the flowers we always have on our tables in her memory. Ali was one of our "Mattie Miracle Workers" this year and raised $1,815 for the Foundation!

Pictured with Peter and me is Bob Weiman, AKA, "The Magic Man." Bob hosted the magic show at the Walk, and has done so since 2009! Bob is the assistant head of the St. Stephen's and St. Agnes School and taught Mattie magic even when he was in the hospital. Magic, like Legos, became a form of therapy for Mattie because it was something that made him feel good about himself and he appreciated he had a skill that made him unique.