Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Tonight's picture was taken in June of 2009. That day, I took Mattie to physical therapy. On the left was Anna, Mattie's physical therapist, and on the right was Linda, Mattie's child life specialist. These women worked VERY hard at getting to know Mattie and meeting his physical and psychosocial needs. Anna was trying to get Mattie to move his legs and work his muscles. If she tried conventional exercises, Mattie would have shut down and that would have been the end of therapy. Instead, Anna made movement fun! I truly believe Mattie made Anna an outstanding physical therapist. Anna was great to begin with, but Mattie pushed her to always think outside the box. She never disappointed. 


Quote of the day: Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them. ~ William Shakespeare

The following photos from the Mattie Miracle Walk focus on the Raffle. In many ways there are multiple events happening on Walk day... the walk itself, kid activities, the raffle, and our corn hole tournament. 

This year's raffle generated around $5,600. The winner of our Disney basket is the daughter of Mattie's nurse, Norma. Norma and her family come to the Walk each year, and I am so happy that they won 6, one-day Disney park passes!

This is Abby. Abby went to preschool with Mattie. She and her family volunteered the whole day at the Walk. In fact, they were tremendously helpful during Walk clean up. By that point, Peter and I are exhausted, yet we have to pack up everything on site, load it into a moving van, and take it home and unload it. 

Abby won our money tree raffle basket!

This is Adina and her husband Uri. Adina is the Mattie Miracle child life specialist at Children's Hospital at Sinai. Adina's family won the coffee raffle basket! 

What this photo doesn't tell is a story of kindness. Someone else won the Nat's raffle basket on the day of the event. However, when the winner truly looked at the date on the baseball tickets, she realized she wouldn't be in town. So she wanted to give the raffle basket to someone else. She looked around and she saw my friend Kristen and her family. 

This photo captures Kristen and her family accepting the basket. It is a lovely photo, and I am happy I shared the story of kindness behind it, as it makes the acceptance of this raffle basket even more meaningful.