Monday, November 27, 2023Tonight's picture was taken in November of 2007. This was a typical weekend for us, bundled up during the winter and exploring Roosevelt Island. It was our nature's playground, only minutes from our city townhouse. Mattie loved collecting items along the way from rocks, leaves, to acorns and sticks. Just seeing this pathway even today through a photo brings back special memories in my mind and also illustrates where we were most at peace. We journeyed to this place in good times and bad.... we visited the Island soon after Mattie was diagnosed with cancer, we visited after Mattie died often, and also walked daily during COVID (before the park was closed to the public because of the health crisis). I miss this space and those special family times.
Quote of the day: Grief, I now understand, is a sort of madness, in the same way that falling in love is madness. ~ Patrick Swayze.
The last set of candy and snack items for the Foundation were delivered today. Truly a whole mini van was filled to capacity and items were delivered to the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD. I am so grateful to our supporters for their generosity and to my friends for delivering items all over town, when I just couldn't this year.
After doing a bunch of chores today, which also included cutting down and back dead plants in our backyard, I took my mom to Starbucks! Starbucks has become my Cheers. It is a place we both feel comfortable visiting and while we were there, we block out our troubles, in order to engage with the world and feel 'more normal.' It is a two hour break from our daily reality. As promised, I wanted to show you some of the decorations I put out on display this weekend. The reindeer candle holders were given to me by Peter's mom, the Lenox sleigh I bought in an antique store years ago, and the green candle trees, I bought in Los Angeles in 2020 at CVS no less!
I love the pony wall in our kitchen. I try to put themed items of it to reflect the season. On the wall is a line up of all the plastic Santa's I had as a child. Mattie loved playing with my Santa's too! You will also see a German wooden carousel. It belonged to Peter's maternal grandmother. Then it was passed down to Peter's mom and now to me. I can remember playing with all these Santa's as a child and the beauty of being a child, was I had no idea how painful the future could be.
I love this countertop in the kitchen, as I try to put themed decorations here as well. Our dining room table. I love this poinsettia bough! Typically I put up Christmas stockings too, but I was not in the mood for that this year. My dad came home from his memory care center today with this lovely ornament. He colored this bird in himself, the center laminated it and I hung it on our rubber tree plant. My dad is very PROUD of his creation, and we praised him and made a big deal over this, because typically my dad shies away from anything art related. But we told him he is the next Grandma Moses! Any case, this ornament hangs on the tree, and where my dad sits in the family room, he can directly see his handiwork!
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