Tuesday, June 4, 2019

Tuesday, June 4, 2019 -- Mattie died 506 weeks ago today.

Tonight's picture was taken in June of 2007. Mattie was posing in front of an Amish wagon. We took Mattie to a restaurant for traditional Amish fare that night. Outside the restaurant was this wonderful wagon. As Mattie loved anything with wheels, he was naturally intrigued by this vehicle!


Quote of the day: To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others. ~ Tony Robbins


Out of the blue today, I received a text message from Sunny's groomer. We have been seeing her since we got Sunny. So let's say going on three years. She has changed workplaces four times since we have known her, but we have always followed her to her new locations. As I like her, she likes Sunny, and does a good job with him. But today she sent me a quick message saying that due to weight restrictions, she can not work with Sunny. 

Naturally when I first read this very brief message, I interpreted it as a Sunny problem. That there was some sort of policy on dogs being a certain weight, and of course my emotional reaction was anger. But I knew this did not make sense as there are far heavier dogs in this world than Sunny. Because I know the groomer and how much she cares about Sunny, I stepped back from the brief message and decided to ask MORE questions. Fortunately I did, because I deduced that the groomer is pregnant and must not lift heavy things until the baby is born. She has every intention to work with Sunny after maternity leave. 

Now this is where the art of communication comes into play. She most likely did not realize how I would receive her message, and perhaps she never thought I would interpret it the way that I did. My interpretation was that her vet had issues with Sunny's weight. After all Sunny's vet has issues with Sunny's weight, so I transferred my frustration from one vet to another. Thankfully, I went back to what I always rely on, and that is my interpersonal connections. I know this groomer, I know she loves Sunny, and I couldn't believe she would want to give up a long term client. I was correct, and fortunately used that line of reasoning while asking questions today! 

More Mattie Miracle Walk photos. We have many activities for kids at our event. One of which is a magic show. Bob Weiman, Mattie's assistant head of school, is considered the 'magic man.' He learned magic from his dad and Bob teaches magic to elementary students at Mattie's school. In fact, Bob visited Mattie often while he was undergoing cancer treatment. Mattie gravitated to magic, especially since he no longer had gross motor skills, but his fine motor skills were spot on. Bob hosts a magic show every year at the Walk in memory of the connection he had with Mattie. 

We had two moon bounces this year. This one was geared to smaller children!

We also had an inflatable obstacle course! Which is geared toward kids and adults.

This is the second year in a row that we had a Reptiles Alive show. For Mattie's 7th and last birthday, our friends hosted a party for Mattie in their backyard. They invited Reptiles Alive to have a show to entertain the kids. Mattie loved it and held a snake similar to Sun Glow (the snake you see Peter holding). 

Rachael is the educator from Reptiles Alive who has joined us two years in a row. She is fabulous, knowledgeable, approachable, and fun. 

We also have craft tables! This year's craft was design a pipe cleaner critter on a Mattie Miracle pencil. The two children in white t-shirts are Charlotte and Parker. They are our youngest volunteers! They are the grandchildren of my friend, Margaret. Though Margaret is no longer alive, her daughter and grandchildren continue where she left off. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to work with young children and introduce them to the Foundation!