Wednesday, March 22, 2023

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

Tonight's picture was taken in March of 2008. Mattie came home from school that day and we went outside to our commons area in the city and flew a kite. Mattie loved kites and the commons area was the perfect space, because it always had just the right amount of wind to send Mattie's kite soaring! It is hard to believe that this photo was taken four months before he was diagnosed with cancer. It is easy to forget that Mattie was once healthy, could run, and just be a kid, as cancer has a way of leaving a permanent mark on my brain. This photo however, instantly snaps me back to a happier time in our lives. 

Quote of the day: I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong... I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles. ~ Audrey Hepburn

After a three week hiatus (because my mom was ill), my mom returned to physical therapy today. There is always more pressure on therapy days, because I have to get my dad up and ready and my mom out the door at a certain time in order to drive to the hospital. Today I learned that my mom will be doing therapy through June. Originally the plan was for therapy to end in April. So the process continues, and it is more for me to juggle!

Peter sent me this photo of a giant hyacinth growing in our backyard. Rather hysterical that I don't make the time to see it in person! But thankfully Peter keeps me connected to the outside world and also takes on the daily nanny camera reports on my dad's behavior at night. 

I snapped some photos of things I have put out around the house for the Spring/Easter season. After Mattie died, we did NO decorating. AT ALL! I neither had the interest or desire. I am not sure I do now either, but with my parents living with us, and my dad completely disoriented, I find decorating for the season is good for all of our mental states. Otherwise every day is exactly like the day before here. 

When Mattie died, I donated many of the decorations I had collected over the years. I felt..... why keep them?! I did not want to decorate and I did not have a child to pass them onto in the future. The only decorations I did keep were the ornaments for our Christmas tree. Most likely because many of them have some sort of significance. 

Peter came home with some daffodils two days ago and to me they are the ultimate sign of Spring. So I got out my trusty ribbon collection and put ribbons around each of the daffodil containers. When Mattie Miracle used to host a live Walk and Raffle in May, I needed LOTS of ribbons for our raffle baskets. I must have a ribbon for all occasions! Now our event is no longer in person, but rest assured my ribbons always come in handy. 

Our town house in Washington, DC had a room with a view, which I just LOVED. This is my new room with a view in our house. I am attracted to openness, natural light, windows, and greenery. But I snapped this photo to show you my Easter set up on the wall between our kitchen and family room. 

It has been a full day of balancing caregiving tasks, driving around, cleaning, cooking, answering Foundation emails, and now onto the course work I need to complete for the research study we are involved in! Will the course work ever get done? NO idea, but I keep pushing to meet next week's deadline.