Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Tuesday, March 12, 2019 -- Mattie died 494 weeks ago today.

Tonight's picture was taken around Mattie's third birthday in April of 2005. That year we had a Blues Clues themed party. My parents, Mattie's aunt, uncle, and cousins were in attendance. In fact, I believe we even had a university student come and perform magic and introduced the kids to his pet rabbit. The reason why I chose this photo tonight is it will help explain my posting below. 


Quote of the day: Beware of the people who can endure the pain of kidney stones, they can survive anything. ~ Rachana S.

Sunny and I traversed three states today..... DC, Maryland, and Virginia. The day started early with Sunny getting groomed. His groomer is not around the corner from me, as it takes 40 minutes or so to commute to her in Virginia. From grooming, we got back into the car and drove to Silver Spring, MD. Which literally took us close to an hour. Why did we made the trip there? Because we went to Creative Cakes to pick up tonight's anniversary cake. 

It isn't everyday that Mattie Miracle turns 10! To me that is a big deal, especially when I will never forget the comments I received shortly after the Foundation got its 501c3. Literally we had seasoned Foundations telling me that we would never last longer than 3 years! Lovely, no? Nothing like a challenge or a threat when grieving. 

Needless to say, not only did we survive three years, we have made it to ten. Yet no matter how much time goes by, I will never forget those comments that were made to me during such a fragile time. Every March, we host our core volunteer appreciation dinner. However, at tonight's dinner we will also be celebrating our anniversary with our core team. A team comprised of friends, many of whom directly knew Mattie, and supported us throughout Mattie's cancer journey. 

When I had to pick an anniversary cake for tonight's event, I thought about which bakery to use! I had to think about it because I am not wild about most of the local bakeries around me. It was Peter who reminded me about Creative Cakes! How do I know this bakery? I know it because they designed many of Mattie's birthday cakes. I can still remember Mattie and I driving to the bakery to pick up his cakes, and instead of Mattie in tow today, I had Sunny. Needless to say, it seems noteworthy to mention that the bakery remains thriving and Mattie is no longer with us. 

Given that the Foundation is named after Mattie, there was NO way I could get a chocolate cake to celebrate this milestone. I had a feeling Mattie wouldn't be happy with me if he saw chocolate, so instead I picked the bakery's favorite cake.... a White Chiffon Cake with Fresh Strawberries and Swiss Meringue Icing. 

We took a group photo tonight of our core volunteers. 

Row row (left to right): Peter, Christine, Vicki, Junko, Tina and Ann

Back row (left to right): Dave, Denise, Marisa, Peggy, Debbie, Carolyn, Katie, Ali, Dawnee, Jane and Mary


The cake on display. 














These are the special ornaments created by my friend Ilona for this event. Ilona runs a childhood cancer non-profit. The proceeds from these gifts went directly to helping kids with cancer. 








We chose to have our event at Magnolia's on King, in Old Town, Alexandria. We had the whole second floor to ourselves and it truly was our best volunteer appreciation dinner yet. The historic home atmosphere, professional staff, and great food made the night a real treat! 





Opening up our 10th anniversary gift to our volunteers! My friend Christine opened hers to show everyone! So happy we worked with Ilona on developing these thank you gifts!