Thursday, May 11, 2023

Thursday, May 11, 2023

Tonight's picture was taken in May of 2008. It was grandparents day at Mattie's school. Apparently a tradition, and an event that happens every May at the lower school. Children have the opportunity to show their grandparents around campus, meet their teachers, have a special breakfast, and hear the students perform in a choir concert. My parents came in from LA to attend this event. I also signed up to be a volunteer at the event, so that I could see what was going on! Thankfully my parents came and I also volunteered, because that was our FIRST and LAST grandparents day! 

However, the children are required to get dressed up for this special day! That was a big problem as I had NO formal attire for Mattie. I literally scrambled within 24 hours and figured it out! I knew Mattie would hate wearing a tie and jacket. But fortunately I learned about ties that zipper at the neck. This format was a God sent, because otherwise I have no idea how we would have managed this, as Mattie remained sensitive to the texture of clothing and certainly did not like being constrained from movement. 

Quote of the day: Say NO to the demands of the world. Say YES to the longings of your own heart. ~ Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Peter is plugging away in Philadelphia. He sent me today's outfit! I gave him the thumbs up! Fortunately for me, Peter returns home tomorrow night!

Tonight's quote could have been written for me. Despite all the things I am balancing, I said YES to a request from my neighbor. I took my parents out to lunch today (which on an aside was a disaster, as my dad started choking, he eats way too fast, and then developed the hiccups) and while at lunch, my neighbor sends me a text.

My neighbor has four children. Two out of the four have events at their schools tomorrow. Two different schools mind you that are in two different locations and the one set of grandparents agreed to go to the older child's event. Which meant that the 7 year old did not have a grandparent or special friend to attend his event at the elementary school. Given the photo I posted above with Mattie, I know all about how special grandparents day is at one's school, and the kids look forward to showing their family members around. Not having a special someone with you, is an isolating feeling. In any case, my 7 year old friend was crying when he learned that his grandparents wouldn't be at his school tomorrow. 

So despite the fact that I had a busy schedule tomorrow, I canceled everything. My dad won't be going to his memory care program, my mom won't be going to her physical therapy session, and I won't be able to be on Foundation conference calls. I typically don't like changing my plans, but when I know a child will be impacted, I make the effort. I have to pick up this little fellow at 7:45am to head to his school. So in order to make that happen, I will getting up at 5am, in order to make my parents breakfast, get my dad washed, dressed, and downstairs, and laundry started. All I can say is there is a special place for me. 

Now the question is how do I feel about being surrounded by a bunch of 6 year old's tomorrow, in kindergarten classrooms? I don't know, we shall see. After all this was Mattie's age when he was diagnosed with cancer. For Mattie, life changed at age 6, and yet for most children, this is just their start in life. I know I will be surrounded by happy and ambitious family members tomorrow, who have aspirations for their children. I get it, but I also get that for some of us, life did not turn out as planned.