Sunday, September 30, 2018

Sunday, September 30, 2018

Tonight's picture was taken in October of 2004. That weekend, we took Mattie to a fall festival in Virginia. Ironically the year before, Mattie would not even entertain going down one of these hay slides. However, by 2004, he was willing to try it, if Peter went with him. So as you can see, they went together and it was a successful experience for Mattie. By the following year, Mattie was managing the slides by himself. But it was a gradual introduction to slides. Meaning, he saw them in 2003, but wanted nothing to do with them. Then in 2004, he went down them with Peter's support, and by 2005, he was free wheeling. 






Quote of the day: The man who is born with a talent which he is meant to use, finds his greatest happiness in using it. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I began our day by checking in with the Sunny cam! Sunny has taken over the car like cot. At least he has migrated away from the door. I have to imagine that he now understands this is temporary.  I remember the first time I took Sunny to Dogtopia. For four or five days, he was guarding the door to the room. He was highly anxious and wanted out. I am glad he sees the pattern and gets the routine.

After a three and a half hour flight, this is what our approach to the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport looked like. A lovely and smooth flight, the best kind of flight.

Honestly given the clouds and grayness, I would think I was STILL in DC. Of course the skyscrapers are the tell tale sign that I am NOT home.

This is the view from our hotel room. It is a very flat and urban city.

The beige building is our hotel. The bridge over the road is a pedestrian bridge that will take us from the Marriott to the Sheraton (where the meeting will be held for the next two days). 

Dallas City Center is NOT what I imagined it to be like. We have been warned NOT to walk, especially at night. We did walk this afternoon for about a block and we both did not like the feeling around us. In fact, there is security present at the entrances of all hotels. Besides that, when you enter the hotels, they greet you and really want to know why you are there and where you are going! To me it is an uncomfortable feeling. 

There is a trolley that runs above ground. I asked the uber driver who took us to the hotel, whether he rides the trains. His answer was NO! So I am not riding them either.
 

Across the street from our hotel is the Cancer Survivors Plaza. There are many tribute parks like this all over the United States. They are funded by the Bloch Foundation.

These are the statues in the survivors park. For the life of me, I don't get the sculpture or the significance of the rectangular structures. Then I looked it up for guidance and now I get it. Not having seen the other people in this sculpture, it is hard to get the full picture of what was being represented.






So here is what I read on-line....


Richard and Annette Bloch want to build a Cancer Survivors Park in every city in the US and Canada that has over one million in population. Each park is totally unique, but three fundamental components are present in each park:

1. A sculpture as a focal point. Created by the renowned Mexican sculptor, Victor Salmones, it is eight life-size figures passing through a maze depicting cancer treatments and success. It is placed in the most visible point in the park for passers-by because it needs no explanation. People can walk among the figures, touch them, walk through the maze and generally visualize themselves being helped. It is moving.
2. A Positive Mental Attitude Walk. This is an area that a person can stroll through, meditate and read some 14 plaques; 4 are inspirational and 10 are specific suggestions on fighting cancer.
3. The Road to Recovery. This consists of 7 bronze plaques with common sense advice to use during treatment.

This sculpture is entitled, "cancer… there's hope."
It is the last work of the world renowned sculptor, Victor Salmones. He claimed it to be his finest, a labor of love. The back five figures are cancer patient and their supporters preparing to enter treatment, represented by the maze.
Notice the fear, determination and hope on
their faces.








 

This is in contrast to the joy of the front three signifying successful treatment.