Thursday, March 4, 2021

Thursday, March 4, 2021

Tonight's picture was taken in March of 2009. Mattie was in the child life playroom at the hospital and in the middle of a science experiment. On Fridays, the University's chemistry club would visit the pediatric floor to interact with the children and do hands on learning. Mattie LOVED all these visits, so much so that even when he was too weak or ill to leave his room, he always requested the Club leaders come in to visit him. I can't tell you how thankful I was for these positive diversions!

Quote of the day: Coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins.

• Number of people diagnosed with the virus: 28,819,554
• Number of people who died from the virus: 520,071

It was a day of walking for me, with over 20,000 steps, which rounds out to about 10 miles. First thing this morning, I had to walk to the dentist. That is about a 35 minute walk in Washington, DC. Typically I don't mind the walk, but with buildings boarded up, homeless everywhere, and instability all around me, it makes me uneasy. After that adventure, I got home and Sunny wanted to go out for a walk. So I took him to Roosevelt Island and we walked for two hours. Then I got home and a friend asked if I would meet her and her niece near the George Washington University campus. Her niece is a high school student and is starting early with looking at colleges. Because of where Peter and I live, I always traverse the University's campus. But it is different when you are showing someone else around. 

I did not take these photos. I downloaded them from the internet. Despite the fact that the University is in the heart of the city with no defined boundaries, it is a very lovely urban campus. We have two quads where students typically gather. This is one of them, right near the library. I can't tell you how many times I would cross this quad while I was at school. Even after I had Mattie, I would take his stroller on campus and we would sit near the fountain, feed the birds, and enjoy the grass space. 

In many ways today's walk was like a trip down memory lane. A memory of simpler times (even though getting a PhD was stressful and challenging) in which I naive about children being diagnosed with cancer. 

This is the second quad that I absolutely love. During the spring the trees and flowers are blooming and it is simply a glorious space. A space I took Mattie to as well. I must admit, I am not used to walking through this campus and not seeing a ton of students. It is just unnatural and makes you sad. 

I passed many buildings on campus that I either took classes in, taught classes in, or worked in. This building is the Graduate School of Education. I spent ten years of my life in this building, getting both a master's and Ph.D., working as the department's graduate assistant, and then as a part-time faculty member. It is thanks to my graduate assistant work, that my entire Ph.D. tuition was covered. I came to the University when I was in my 20s. So it is where I grew up and frankly given my trajectory there, I always thought my life would be in academia. But as I learned quickly, life throws you curves, and you have two choices..... learn, adapt, and evolve, or become stagnant, stuck, and bitter. It would be very easy for me to be bitter and today's walk back in time, does give me pause. But I earned my doctorate, no one can take that away from me, and I truly believe I took my academic experience with me through Mattie's cancer journey. Which ultimately shaped the vision and mission of Mattie Miracle.