Saturday, August 27, 2022

Saturday, August 27, 2022

Tonight's picture was taken in August of 2009. Mattie was surrounded by his three main psychosocial providers.... Linda (child life specialist), Jenny (art therapist) and Jessie (art therapist). By this point we knew Mattie's cancer was terminal, but his team gave it their all until the very end. As you can see, Mattie did not want his photo taken therefore he put his leg up to block his face. 

Quote of the day: The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with the heart. ~  Helen Keller

Peter sent me this photo memory. It captures memories from ten years ago on our European cruise. There is a night and day difference in my parents between then and now.

This is my view this afternoon. Both are out cold!

It is hard to believe that about a year ago we moved into our house. On August 25, 2021, we left our townhouse in Washington, DC. We had lived there 27 years! There are a host of memories made in this space. I can still remember our first night there, as we drove from Boston to Washington, and slept on the floor until our furniture and things arrived days later. We fit so much into this open space and when I saw it empty last year, it felt like I was hit by a tidal wave. I still don't like thinking about people living in our space. My joke with Peter was that Mattie vomited (as a baby) on practically every piece of wood in the townhouse. Our married life started here, Peter graduated from business school, I got my doctorate, we had Mattie, and we had our seven years with him. So many memories tied to 1,600 square feet. 

This was Mattie's bedroom. Which later became my office. 

Our bedroom. At this window, Mattie loved to watch cars, buses, trucks, and airplanes as a baby and toddler. Perhaps it cultivated his love of locomotion!

The day we moved, we packed up things we valued. The Italian music box is the home of Mattie's ashes. 

Our first night, we slept in the family room. I literally slept on Sunny's dog bed. We slept downstairs because the second floor had NO air conditioning. Another gift from the previous owners, as that was something we had to fix ASAP. It has been a very bumpy transition for us, as moving was tough, then we had extensive house renovations, followed by me packing up my parents and moving them in. I am still looking for my break?