Thursday, March 2, 2023

Thursday, March 2, 2023

Tonight's picture was taken in March of 2009. I wasn't present for this special moment, but Peter and Mattie's nurse sent me this photo. Mattie was in the child life playroom, and he, his nurse, and Peter were having a competition. They wanted to find out who could more accurately follow along and do yoga positions. This may not seem like a big deal, but Mattie was healing from three limb salvaging surgeries. He couldn't walk independently, but despite all of this Mattie was able to keep his balance and hold various yoga positions. When I saw this photo back then and even now, I am in awe of what Mattie was able to do given all that he faced. 

Quote of the day: Flaming enthusiasm, backed up by horse sense and persistence, is the quality that most frequently makes for success. ~ Dale Carnegie

I learned this morning that my dad does not have COVID. His negative test confirms this. My dad is on the mend. He still has a slight cough, but it much better than my mom. My mom is struggling with exhaustion and a terrible head cold. I have her on all sorts of cold meds and last night when she was upstairs changing for dinner, I heard a big thug. I did not think much of it, until I called her down for dinner. At which point, I realized she fell in her office, with the door locked. So we had to figure out how to open the door to assist her. Fortunately she did not hurt herself, but I have to keep an even closer eye on her now. 

My parents were resting all day today. While they were resting, I made it my business to finish the Walk website and start testing it today! Persistence and determination are my keywords! They define who I am, especially when it comes to Mattie's Foundation. 

Despite having a head cold myself, and not sleeping much last night because of a post nasal drip, I worked the day away. I am proud to say that the Walk website is up and operational and that I will be able to announce this website link in our March Foundation newsletter. That was my goal!

The landing page of the Walk website features the group participant photo from our 2019 event. That was our 10th anniversary Walk and our last in-person event. 

COVID forced me, and all non-profits, to think more broadly and virtually. In 2020, we translated our live event into a virtual one and will continue the event virtually indefinitely. Given my family circumstances now, there would be no way I could plan and host an in-person event. I am thankful we made the investment in the technology to host such an event and that we now have supporters in all 50 states participating. To see our Walk Page, go to: https://2023.mmcfwalk.com/

I have been working on corporate sponsors for our event. Currently our thermometer reads $32,583. Our fundraising goal is to reach $100k.

In addition to launching the site, I tested our registration, donation and raffle sites today. I created a personal Walk page. It features a photo of me, Peter, and Sunny at CureFest on the National Mall in 2016. 

I then created a Walk page for Peter. It features a photo of us from our 2012 Walk. Back then, we used to have themes associated with our Walks. That year it was Love of Family. After that year, we then moved away from themed Walks, because we wanted the Walk itself to be the focus and the event.  

I also created a walk page for my parents. The photo on the page was taken at Butterfly World in Florida. Butterfly World is an ethereal place that Mattie loved to visit, and that we appreciated as a family. I miss our trips to this special place.