Monday, October 26, 2026

Monday, October 26, 2026

Tonight's picture was taken in October of 2008. Mattie was home recovering from his first limb salvaging surgery. This wooden ramp was built outside our apartment entrance in order to accommodate Mattie's wheelchair. Our complex even put a ramp for Mattie by the entrance to the building. We truly had a network of people looking out for us and here's the funny part of all of this.... I have no idea where these pumpkins came from. I certainly do not remember buying them, so my hunch was someone from Team Mattie gave them to us, and Mattie put them outside out door! Which was why I snapped a photo of him with them. Mattie was my pumpkin fan, and thanks to him I now love all things pumpkin.

Quote of the day: Sometimes all you can do is lie in bed and hope to fall asleep before you fall apart. ~ William C. Hannan

I woke up this morning not feeling good. My stomach was bothering me, but whether I am feeling good or bad, the show must go on. So I pushed through the pain, but I was moving slower than usual today. After I got my dad showered, dressed, had breakfast, and to his memory care center, I came home, managed the laundry and then went to the backyard. Given how I was feeling, I needed fresh air and to move around. I spent two hours outside cutting back roses for the winter. 

In the two brown clay pots are oak trees. These trees grew from acorns. The acorns came from a tree right outside our apartment in Washington, DC. Mattie loved that oak tree! Why? Because it was the only oak near us and we needed those leaves to help feed Mattie's tent caterpillars every spring (trust me they ate nothing else!). When we moved to Virginia, we took the acorns with us and planted them. They are a tribute to my Mattie and his love of acorns and oaks!

It was a glorious 70 degree today. By this time last year, I had already winterized our hose bibs and put the hoses in the garage for the winter. But not this year. Today, I was outside watering plants and it felt like spring. As you can see, leaves are everywhere. 

When we moved into the house in 2021, there were all sorts of things decorating the backyard. Most of which we piled up and threw out. But what I could see in my mind was terracotta pots lined with roses, so my other half made that happen. Today, I trimmed back those roses and shaped them. 

I absolutely love roses. That said, do you think they are my favorite flower? NO! Most people do not know what my favorite flower is, but it is a gardenia. In my parent's house in Los Angeles, they had several gardenia plants. They thrived in that soil and climate. They aren't happy here in Virginia, so I don't even bother planting them. But when I was in high school, I remember receiving a gardenia corsage. Mind you, I can't recall who gave it to me, or what the occasion was, all I remember is the flower and its intoxicating fragrance. To me the gardenia is about understated and pure beauty. 

That said, when we moved into the house, there were many flower beds in need of repair or to be re-imagined. This area was just such an area! My other half transformed it into a rose garden for me. Today I went outside and cut back all the roses. There is so much vegetation, that I literally take it one parcel at a time. I manage so much in the house, and now that I have done it for three years, I have the timing on things inside and out. But these 70 degree fall days are a blessing, because there are many moments when I am so overwrought, overwhelmed, and distraught that the only thing that works for me is to get outside, breathe in fresh air and work in the garden.