Tonight's picture was taken on January 4, 2009 (see below). I remember snapping this photo of Mattie. We were sent home for the holidays, and this was a very difficult and complicated time for us. Filled with pain, an inability to move, depression and anxiety. Nonetheless, in the midst of that chaos we also had happy moments, as you can see. However when you look at the actual photo below, you can see Mattie's hospital bed in the background! Our Facebook friend, Tim Beck, found this photo on our blog and created this stunning composition for us! I love Tim's fall themed background and it seems to bring out the happy and trusting feelings that Mattie's smile was exuding by being with Peter!
Quote of the day: If you’re giving to get, all you’ll receive is disappointment.
But if you’re giving to give, all you’ll receive is joy. ~ Toni Sorenson
It is my hope that by the end of tomorrow ALL of Mattie Miracle's candy will be gone and distributed all over town. Keep in mind that prior to Thanksgiving I delivered candy already to Children's Inn at NIH, Hospital for Sick Children, Ronald McDonald House in DC, Ronald McDonald House in Falls Church, VA, and Special Love for Children with Cancer. The notion that this is almost over is thrilling! It is a great effort to collect, sort, manage, and distribute this amount of candy. We are talking over TWO TONS of candy!
This afternoon, I went to the St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School in Alexandria, VA (SSSAS, school mascot: SAINTS). I can't thank SSSAS enough for their incredible efforts to help Mattie
Miracle collect, sort, store, and distribute 5,000 pounds of candy all over the
DC area tomorrow! Mattie was a student at SSSAS and I remember someone telling me after
Mattie died that once you are a SAINT, you are always a SAINT. Today really
made me see this!
I had the opportunity to meet 13 students and several faculty of the School today. These 18 men helped cart candy to this truck and load it! I will be riding with this truck tomorrow to all our remaining delivery sites! This was such an incredible effort, I asked that everyone pose by the truck so I could capture the moment. Mattie was used to my picture taking. Though I can no longer take photos of him, I land up taking photos of anything related to the Foundation. Since in my mind the Foundation is my Mattie proxy.
I posted this photo today on Facebook and this is what I wrote along with it.......
Want to see what 18 SAINTS look like? Look no further!!!
These amazing guys moved and loaded 5,000 pounds of candy onto a truck within
MINUTES!!! These students attend St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School (SSSAS,
school mascot is the SAINTS) in Alexandria, VA and are also members of the
School's wrestling team. The team work, spirit, and positive attitude displayed
today were noteworthy! Tomorrow SSSAS will be delivering the candy all over
town with Mattie Miracle and helping us fulfill our psychosocial mission.
Mattie Miracle gives a SPECIAL THANKS for coordinating this
large candy collection, storage, and distribution to...... Bud Garikes
(Director of the Upper School), Keith Mills (Dean of Students at the Upper
School), Trae Humphreys (History Teacher at Upper School), Larry Jenney
(Associate Director of Summer Programs), and Joe Shabelski (Assistant Athletic
Director of Facilities and Grounds)
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