Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Tonight's picture was taken in October of 2004. Mattie was two years old and had a much better understanding for Halloween at that point. Mattie wasn't into costumes, because he did not like the texture of things or to feel confined. But sweat suit material was always a hit and we both loved Winnie the Pooh. I think he met a cute Pooh. 

Trick or treating with Mattie was hysterical. He loved the process but NOT the candy. Mattie enjoyed walking door to door, but then after he had a bag full of candy he did not know what to do with it since he despised chocolate. He would hold onto the lollipops, but would happily give the rest of the candy to me and friends. Needless to say other kids loved trick or treating with Mattie as they landed up with twice the amount of candy they collected. When Mattie was battling cancer, he did go trick or treating and after that was over, he came home and sat on the floor to sort the candy. That was a first for him, prior years he never sorted! He then invited people to come take the candy that he sorted into piles. It is a memory I will never forget. 


Quote of the day: Painting is just another way of keeping a diary. ~ Pablo Picasso


At the end of  September, Peter and I were invited to the Association of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Nurses (APHON) Conference in Indiana. APHON was kind enough to give us a national award for our vision to create psychosocial standards of care. The Association sent me the press release today and several photos from the actual awards luncheon. 

Press Release for APHON Conference:

http://newswise.com/articles/association-of-pediatric-hematology-oncology-nurses-recognizes-honorary-members

Peter and I are pictured with Kathy Ruccione. Kathy is the President of APHON. The irony is we met Kathy a few years ago in Toronto while presenting at another conference. Needless to say, APHON was the FIRST professional organization to endorse the standards and we value their support. 

After Kathy presented us the award, we both got to say a few words. We are a dynamic duo because Peter and I compliment each other. Peter talks about the context of our work and highlights our future objectives in order to achieve national psychosocial standards of care.

Whereas, I talk about the emotion. The emotion of our personal experiences with Mattie's cancer battle and death, and how receiving this award from such a distinguished professional organization means so much to us. Pediatric nurses are NO strangers to us. We lived with them for 14 months of Mattie's care. Nurses are the first responders and provide direct psychosocial care to children and their families. We would have been lost without our nurses. Therefore it is truly an honor to be recognized by the professional group that represents these nurses. 

This evening I went to Paint Nite
with my cancer friend Ilona. Ilona and I met in July of 2013, right after her son died. Now three years later, we are still friends and communicate daily. 

Ilona introduced me to Paint Nite last year and we meet up on occasion to paint. I selected this painting tonight. This is the teacher's painting by the way. 

In any case, I selected this painting because it reminded me of Mattie.... Moon and Pumpkins. I had no idea that it was really a scene out of Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas. I am not a Tim Burton fan at all, but somehow this painting seemed whimsical and not scary to me. 

This painting may seem easy to recreate, but I can assure you it isn't! Dealing with all black is complicated and it truly needs shading to create texture and context. In any case, I would have needed much more than two hours to do this painting justice. I felt rushed. But with that said, I still had a good time and with each Paint Nite that I do, I am learning to take it less seriously and just try to create.  

A photo of Ilona and I with our finished products!!!

I came home with as much black paint on me that as on the canvas! Here is a close up of my final product!