Wednesday, November 20, 2024Tonight's picture was taken in November of 2002. Mattie was 7 months old and I had him on the floor, propped up with pillows all around him. I did this because he was learning to sit up independently, and I did not want him flipping over. Can you guess who he was staring at in this photo? YES it was me. Mattie had a way of always tracking me wherever I went!
Quote of the day: When love dies and marriage lies in ruins, the first casualty is honest memory, decent, impartial recall of the past. Too inconvenient, too damning of the present. It's the spectre of old happiness at the feast of failure and desolation. So, against that headwind of forgetfulness I want to place my little candle of truth and see how far it throws its light. ~ Ian McEwan
Given my parent's reaction to the RSV injection yesterday, I cancelled my mom's physical therapy session this morning. She was exhausted still! I did take my dad to his memory care program and then went grocery shopping. When I came home I was determined to find this tree. This cute faux Christmas tree came from Los Angeles. I remember buying it with my mom YEARS AGO! Coldwater Creek, was a women's clothing store. It was going out of business and they were selling everything in the store. My mom bought this tree which was on display. It turns out to be a cutie! I decorated it for my parents each Christmas, while they lived in California.
There is no way I am getting a Christmas tree (real of faux). For many reasons, but foremost because holidays mean nothing to me anymore. The death of Mattie impacted me for sure, and now my divorce has put the nail in the coffin. I am simply going through the motions for my parents.
In 2023, my first Christmas without Peter, I never put up a tree. I was looking for this one, but couldn't find it anywhere. When I asked Peter where it was last year, he said most likely in the crawl space above the garage. Frankly I have never gone into that crawl space, much less know how to access it. But today, I put on my big girl pants, maneuvered the beige ladder that Peter had in the corner of the garage and I climbed up to that trap door in the ceiling. Sure enough, Peter had a ton of Christmas things stored up there in a very organized fashion. Peter used to put reindeer and other decorations out in our front yard. I don't have the courage or strength to bring these decorations down the ladder. So they remain in the garage crawl space. Everything except for this little tree.
I have now brought all our Foundation item drive materials to the garage. My friend Carolyn came to pick up this pile tonight and will be driving it to Baltimore, MD on Friday! This pile is going to the NIH! I will load my car Thursday night and drive it to Bethesda on Friday! All of these items keep our Snack and Item Carts fully stocked, as families caring for children with cancer really rely on this support!
Christmas came early for me. I received this lovely milk frother today from my cousin Cheryl. I have to say that tea lattes are one of my favorite drinks, so now I have an easy way to froth milk. Though Cheryl and I have never met, I feel like we know one another very well. She has been an absolute God sent to me since Peter left.
Carolyn surprised me with these wonderful goodies! Can you see the sunflower in the floral arrangement? A tell tale Team Mattie symbol! Two out of the four pastries have already been consumed and they perked up our evening.
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