Tuesday, December 19, 2023

Tuesday, December 19, 2023 -- Mattie died 742 weeks ago today. 

Tonight's picture was taken in December of 2002. Mattie was 8 months old. Being his first Christmas, I wanted to capture a good picture of him to feature on our family Christmas card. I can't tell you how many photos we took that year. This being one of them. I did select a different photo for the card, but this one is still one of my favorites. 

Quote of the day: And once the storm is over you won’t remember how you made it though, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, in fact, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm is all about. ~ Haruki Murakami

When I lived in Washington, DC, I always said that our living room was like a room with a view. It had a big picture window in it and over the winter, we'd bring in all our plants and stage them by that window. I love seeing greenery in the winter, and this week I went to pick up a few indoor plants because unfortunately my spider plants (which I had for years) died, as did my huge Christmas cactus. My former Christmas cactus was enormous and so hardy, but I accidently left it outside this fall and it froze and died. I have no idea why that was so upsetting to me, but it was. 

This week, I decided to plant a new Christmas cactus and some other green friends, in hopes of brightening up our space in these cold winter months ahead. 

Tomorrow I am going to a check presentation at a bank in Alexandria, VA. This bank became a community sponsor of Mattie Miracle last year, and I am grateful that they are continuing their incredible support this year. I put together three little gifts for the president and his staff. 

The final product! I learned how to use cello wrap from doing countless raffle baskets for the Foundation over the years! It is a skill that has come in handy!