Saturday, May 17, 2025

Saturday, May 17, 2025

Tonight's picture was taken in May of 2009, at the Mattie March held at Mattie's school. At that event, Mattie and Bob, AKA the Magic Man, performed a magic show to hundreds of attendees. Bob was Mattie's head of school and Bob visited Mattie monthly while he was in the hospital and taught Mattie the art of magic. This trick was entitled the Peanut Butter Booger Trick (a name Mattie loved!). After Mattie died, Bob renamed the trick.... the Mattie Brown. Mattie was so happy that day and we thought as Mattie's treatment was coming to an end, we were going to work on rehabilitation and transitioning back to school that Fall. That never happened, as Mattie died four months after the Mattie March. 

Quote of the day: Hearts will never be practical until they are made unbreakable. ~ The Tinman, The Wizard of Oz

Every year, for the last 16 years, my friend Carolyn visits me the day before the Mattie Miracle walk. She always bestows me with flowers (in Mattie Miracle colors!) and all sorts of treats. Can you see this pastry in the shape of a lady bug? Mattie was into bugs of all kinds, so he would have gotten a big kick out of this sight! 

Carolyn and I met, as fellow moms at Mattie's preschool. Our children were in the same classroom. Now 21 years later, we are still bonded together. In fact, Carolyn has served at Mattie Miracle's raffle chair for all these years, which was a large undertaking when our event was live, as it took great coordination and legwork to pull off a raffle! 

Today I had the best of intentions to record a greeting, that I will post tomorrow on our social media platforms. It is a Walk Day greeting. Last year, I attempted to do a Facebook Live greeting and that was a disaster, so this year, I figured I would video record a greeting and then post it tomorrow. I worked on this for several hours this afternoon, and thought I captured a good quality recording. When I came home from taking my parents out to lunch, I listened to the recording and it was all garbled. When I tell you I almost lost it, I am not kidding. Technology is not my strength and I always relied on my husband to work out these details. Another thing that I have had to navigate on my own since he left. 

Any case, I sat back down this evening and recorded the greeting again. Since I do not trust my computer files, I immediately took the file and uploaded it to YouTube. I am giving you a sneak peek of the greeting tonight, but it will be posted tomorrow officially! I hope in four short minutes I highlighted why we walk, some information about childhood cancer, why our psychosocial mission is vital, and how grateful we are to our supporters. 

Naturally when I look at the video I notice two things about myself...... I am exhausted and my spirit has been broken. 

Click on the image to hear my Greeting to Mattie Miracle Supporters on Walk Day (May 18, 2025)

This afternoon while out at lunch, I received an email from a colleague of my dad's! It was such a special email, that I saved it to a file I have on my dad. What you may not know about my dad is he has always been a hard working, devoted husband and dad, who is always modest about his career and achievements. The email from my dad's friend highlighted my dad's amazing career and how my dad was respected by everyone at his company. Not that any of this surprises me, but it was so so touching to see my dad through someone else's eyes! Frankly I was so moved by the email, that I was crying in the middle of the diner. I couldn't help but to compare my dad to my husband. Mind you I always thought my husband was a lot like my dad, but one thing is for sure..... my dad under no circumstances would ever walk away from his family, his commitments, and those he loved. My dad is a class act and when people wonder..... why do I provide such daily care to my dad? The answer is easy...... because he deserves it.