Thursday, July 30, 2015

Thursday, July 30, 2015

Tonight's picture was taken in July of 2003. Mattie was 15 months old and exploring the Outer Banks of North Carolina with us for the first time. That day we took him to Corolla Light. Back then, we could take Mattie up the lighthouse stairs in a backpack. Of course that wouldn't be allowed today! As you can see Mattie was fascinated by the climb and was checking out the elevation! What you can't tell was it was super hot out and I am not sure how Peter managed this haul up the stairs with Mattie on his back. 


Quote of the day: What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make. ~ Jane Goodall

Last night while at the IPOS/APOS World Psycho-Oncology Conference we had the pleasure of meeting this wonderful troop of kid performers directed by Susan Alexander Thompson and Michael Axler. The troop belongs to the Take the Stage Performance Company (http://www.takethestageperformance.org/). One of the conference chairs who was planning this event asked me if I knew a talented community kid's group who could perform at the conference. Who came to mind was Susan's performance company. How do I know Susan? I know Susan through Brett! Who is Brett? Well Brett has been our pro bono lobbyist for Mattie Miracle since 2011. As I have gotten to know Brett over the years, he shared with me a little bit about what Susan does and her gift of working with children. I am so happy I remembered that fact! Susan's group was the perfect way to kick off this International conference.  

As you can see there were 15 girls performing. I wanted to take a photo of the group before they got on stage. Right before this photo, you need to understand the girls were scattered all over the place and chatting. But Susan and Michael (who I should tell you is a clinical psychologist who works with special needs children by day) asked the girls to gather for a photo. When she told them to smile, it was almost like an immediate response. There was NO fidgeting, no debating! They went into instant performance mode! I absolutely loved it! You could see their discipline to the art form. 

What was also lovely, was Susan and Michael told the girls about Peter, myself, and Mattie before they came to the opening ceremony. They also told them about the nature of the conference. So the girls clearly understood the conference's mission and cause. Needless to say these girls really made an impression on me and that was even before they performed.  

The girls sang three pieces to a FULL BALLROOM of attendees. They handled it like complete professionals, they did not seem nervous, and were absolutely engaging and inspiring. You almost wish every young person had this kind of musical experience! The first piece they sang was The Rainbow Connection. Which is one of my favorites! It always reminds me of Kermit the Frog. The second piece (which you can see the video of) was from the musical, Pippin: Everything has a Season---- https://youtu.be/08x5RLxe_h4

The third piece was something that Michael transposed on his own by combining three different musical numbers into one. Yet it worked and the piece was very meaningful. Some of the words were.... Nothing is easy out there on your own. You are never alone. 

This song had people in the audience in tears. I think it was the combination of energy from the girls and the lyrics. You can hear it for yourself:
https://youtu.be/-Ul4I9ubPDY