Proud of my work -- 16 Years of Service

Thank you for keeping Mattie's memory alive!

Dear Mattie Blog Readers,

It means a great deal to me that you take the time to write and to share your thoughts, feelings, and reflections on Mattie's battle and death. Your messages are very meaningful and help support me through very challenging times. I am forever grateful. As my readers know, I promised to write the blog for a year after Mattie's death, which would mean that I could technically have stopped writing on September 9, 2010. However, like my journey with grief there is so much that still needs to be processed and fortunately I have a willing support network still committed to reading. Therefore, the blog continues on. If I should find the need to stop writing, I assure you I will give you advanced notice. In the mean time, thank you for reading, thank you for having the courage to share this journey with me, and most importantly thank you for keeping Mattie's memory alive.


As Mattie would say, Ooga Booga (meaning, I LOVE YOU)! Vicki



A Remembrance Video of Mattie

September 19, 2016

Monday, September 19, 2016

Monday, September 19, 2016

Tonight's picture was taken in September of 2005. We took Mattie peach picking that weekend. What a great time we had. It was a first for me as well as Mattie. We came home with a ton of peaches. I remember making peach jam with many of the peaches and Mattie absolutely loved the process. No surprise as we always called him our "Farmer Brown."


Quote of the day: Buy a pup and your money will buy love unflinching. Rudyard Kipling


This photo isn't meant to gross you out in any way. Rather I entitle it..... "the hamster." This is the amount of Sunny fur I pick up every few days with a vacuum. Mind you I brush him down every day. But this boy has FUR, and MORE FUR!!! When I dumped the vacuum container in the trash today, the sight of all the fur made me laugh. I hope it makes you chuckle too!
Today was our first rainy day together. I am NOT a rain fan, but apparently neither is Sunny. We went out for a quick walk earlier in the day and Sunny seemed miserable. So much so that when he got back home, he went upstairs to his dog bed to lie down. Totally not like him, but he literally seemed depressed. Now we have two in our home who are in need of sunshine.... me and Sunny!

This is a photo I took of Sunny before our afternoon walk. Sunny needed to get out of our home and moving. He thrives on walking and looking for squirrels. This is the before photo. Looks a little dejected in comparison to the next photo.



Sunny and I walked to the White House and back. That was a three mile walk in the rain. I can assure you, without Sunny, I wouldn't be outside walking. Look how happy he looks. He loves walk and despite the rain spotted many squirrels. The National Mall is a squirrel friendly place and it is literally Sunny's playground!



I would have to say that post childhood cancer events (like the one yesterday) are always a let down and emotionally and physically draining. Which is why having Sunny around helps a great deal. He is a constant companion and loves to be loved and needed! This morning, after I got back inside from our walk, I was damp and wet from the rain. So I put a kettle on to make hot tea. When the kettle started to whistle, Sunny literally came running into the kitchen to see if I was okay. He knew I was in there, but couldn't place the whistle and that concerned him greatly. Hard to believe that our two week long new addition, seems so well integrated into our lives. 

1 comment:

Margy Jost said...

Vicki,

Meeting Sunny yesterday at CUREFEST for the first time, it seems impossible you have only had him two week. He is so gentle. He fits his name perfectly. I love the picture of Mattie, you posted, along with his title FARMER BROWN!!!!

That is a lot of Sunny hair. Hope it keeps him especially warm once our cold weather comes