Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Tonight's picture was taken in January of 2009. We took Mattie to NYC for a second time. The first time was to be evaluated and the second time was to begin an experimental treatment for Osteosarcoma. That day Mattie visited the HUGE child life playroom at the hospital. Mattie's child life specialist in Washington, DC contacted the child life folks in NYC and told them Mattie LOVED boxes. So they saved many boxes and had them ready for our arrival. Honestly the specialists in NYC did not know what to make out of Mattie and thought his building with boxes was odd. Frankly I could have cared less what they thought! As you can see Mattie and Peter used the boxes to create a big blue airplane!

Quote of the day: Today's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins.

• Number of people diagnosed with the virus: 24,382,311
• Number of people who died from the virus: 404,898

On January 20th, I always post a tribute to my maternal grandmother. She died on January 20, 1994, at the age of 86. My grandmother lost her husband to colon cancer (when she was in her 50's) before I was born. By the time I came along, my grandmother was already living with my parents. So to me a multi-generational household was normal. 

Facts about my grandma:

1. She was born in 1907, in New York. 
2. Both of her parents were born in Italy. 
3. She was the oldest of five siblings.
4. She married at the age of 16. Her husband was born in Italy and was a contractor for commercial and residential properties. 
5. She had three children. Her middle child died (Sudden Infant Death). 
6. Though she did not work outside the home, she had numerous skills. Cooking being at the top of the list. 
7. She was a born caregiver and cared for everyone in her family. 
8. She sponsored many family members to come to America and is in essence was responsible for their successes and improved quality of life. 
9. She was a kind, gentle, caring, and loving person. With a very easy-going personality. 
10. She had two grand-daughters, but she and I shared a very close bond. As I was known to call her "mom."
11. Her favorite color was green. 
12. She introduced me to Days of Our Lives at an early age. To this day, I still watch it. 
13. She played the piano by ear. 
14. She wasn't a fan of chocolate (not unlike Mattie).
15. She wasn't squeamish. She could handle everything from mice to seeing blood. 
16. She did not know how to drive. 
17. She loved to read and was well informed about all current events. 
18. She was a Bob Hope and Bing Crosby fan. As a result, I have seen all the Road to.... movies. 
19. She loved lily of the valley flowers. 
20. She suffered a massive stroke in 1990, which left her physically disabled. She died 4 years later.  

Each morning since I have gotten back from Los Angeles, I find that I have a buddy sitting with me on the couch. This is a new one for me, as Indie typically is "Peter's Cat!" Now that I am home, I find that it takes me about two hours to ease into the day. As I am recovering from my LA  mornings which started at 6am, followed by intense days.  

I am happy to say that I am all caught up on donation acknowledgments. We received 74 donations this December and fortunately I sent out 48 thank you letters before I left for LA! These are the remaining ones I wrote today. Acknowledging donors is CRUCIAL and IMPORTANT to me, as we wouldn't have a Foundation without our incredible supporters. 

This is 23rd Street in Washington, DC. A major artery for the city and for The George Washington University. As you can see, there are military vehicles everywhere! I have seen a lot of things on this street before in the 20+ years that I have lived here. But NEVER this! In fact if someone told me that our city would look like a developing nation in 2021, I wouldn't have believed them. Nonetheless, here we are.