Tonight's picture was taken in September of 2008. As you can see, Mattie was all business. He got an excavating gift, in other words, a block of clay in which he had to dig, and dig, to reveal plastic dinosaur bones that he then got to assemble together. I was always grateful for gifts like this, as Mattie had very good fine motor abilities, and cancer fortunately did not interfere with this talent.
Quote of the day: I'm going to be gone one day, and I have to accept that tomorrow isn't promised. Am I OK with how I’m living today? It's the only thing I can help. If I didn't have another one, what have I done with all my todays? Am I doing a good job? ~ Hayley Williams
In June, I began creating report cards for Dawn. Every time we went to the restaurant (which is once or twice a week), I would bring a report card. The card would have four unique questions and I would rate her responses by placing a colorful sticker in the column marked excellent, fair, or poor. I started these cards to get my dad engaged, listening, and talking at the table. I am not sure I was successful, but my mom and I enjoyed it and we learned a lot about Dawn and Clyde's in the process.
Today I presented Dawn with the 20th and last report card. In order to acknowledge her efforts with these cards, I also created a certificate of appreciation and I put together these flowers that I bought at the farmer's market.
Four of my report cards. Mind you I cut them out and paste each report card to a colorful index card. Believe it or not, Dawn saves these cards and has showed them to her fellow servers, Clyde's managers, and her family. She assures me, no one has ever done this for a server!
Dawn was very surprised and touched today! You will notice on the table is a pile of change. This is another game we play. For every silly or ridiculous comment my dad makes to Dawn, she gets a coin. Examples of silly things... "is the food fresh?" or "do they allow tipping?" Needless to say, Dawn has a jar full of coins now!
Dawn is a great sport and support! My dad loves her and it is worth the trip to Rockville, MD to see her. She brightens our days and the other day, the manager at the restaurant gave me a big hug and kiss. She sees what I do each week, and though I expect no acknowledgment, it was very touching to get it!
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