Friday, March 25, 2011
Tonight's picture was taken in May of 2004. We took Mattie to Boston to visit Peter's parents. In their yard, they have a tree swing. Even as a child, I loved tree swings. So when I started dating Peter and would visit his house, rest assured, I was outside on his family's swing. When Mattie came into our lives, I wanted him to experience the joy of swinging. Mattie did not like swings at first, but over time, he loved the motion and the freedom.
Quote of the day: Winter is come and gone, But grief returns with the revolving year. ~ Percy Bysshe Shelley
I spent the first part of the day helping Peter get ready for his trip to Africa. In fact, while Peter was running chores, we ran into our friends Junko and Tad. That was a pleasant start to our day!
However, one thing saddened me. There was a beautiful maple tree outside our complex, that was chopped down today. Living in the city, I do not like to see any trees being torn down, but this tree had meaning to me. Mattie and I spent many spring and summer days by this tree. We collected the leaves and polly noses, as my grandmother used to call them, from the tree. These whirligig type things, made the perfect green noses, if you opened them up and stuck them to the bridge of your nose. Peter prepared me for this sighting today, and he opened up the conversation with me by saying..... Mattie wouldn't be happy! Indeed Mattie wouldn't have been happy to see this tree demolished, and I most certainly was upset. With the chopping of the tree, my memories by this tree were also symbolically taken away.
After Peter and I had lunch together and I helped him pack up, we said our good-byes. The Foundation had scheduled Senate office visits, and though Peter was leaving, he wanted me to keep to these commitments. Ironically as many of my readers know, I was on Capitol Hill just last week with CureSearch. CureSearch had their training and advocacy days and this gave me my first opportunity to traverse the Capitol on my own. So today's visit was very familiar to me, which for a directionally challenged person, is a GOOD thing. I wasn't sure if I would be able to tell our story and convey our message without Peter. Usually he is the facts person and I am the emotion person. Today, I had to be both! Fortunately I had Brett with us.
Brett is a managing director at Mercury (a high stakes public strategy firm), and as my readers know, has taken on Mattie Miracle as a probono client. I enjoy working with Brett a great deal. He has a calm demeanor, but is very professional, sharp, insightful, and also sensitive to our situation. When he talks sometimes, I wonder how he has the insights to grasp the horror Peter and I lived through. He understands it and does a great job at helping me convey the psychosocial needs of children with cancer and their families.
In fact, after our first meeting today, I told Brett I wasn't sure I could do this without Peter. Brett's response to me was he could tell I was up on the Hill last week. Mainly because issues were coming out of my mouth at a clip, almost well rehearsed and flowing well together. Though I was advocating for different things with CureSearch, it did help me get my thoughts and facts together, to make an even more convincing case for why the psychological and social needs of children with cancer need to be addressed. Later on today, Brett send me an email, after our visits were over. Part of his email said, "Vicki - great job today - I'm not going to say you reminded me of a professional lobbyist, but you did!" I told Brett that this compliment, coming from him, made my day!
I had the opportunity to visit three Senate offices today. During each meeting I had the opportunity to tell Mattie's story, to discuss the reasons for creating the Mattie Miracle Cancer Foundation, and our legislative goals. Visiting the Hill without Peter, after the week we just had, was challenging. All I wanted to do today was to crawl back into bed and do nothing. However, as I was walking to the Metro to go to Capitol Hill, I reminded myself that there are thousands of children each day, along with their families, stuck and scared inside hospital rooms receiving treatment. That sobering reality, gave me the energy to pull it together and get my thoughts straight. But I must admit there are days without Mattie around, when my passion, focus, and drive dwindle. He was the driving force for me to battle cancer. Now I continue to battle cancer, but it isn't his cancer per se, it is childhood cancer in general. Brett knows I like to document all our visits with photos, so he was kind enough to snap several pictures today.
Our first visit was to Senator Dianne Feinstein's (D-CA) Office. There we met with Nora Connors, Legislative Assistant. I explained to Nora that I went to high school in North Hollywood, CA and that my parents still live in Burbank, CA. So though I do not reside there now, I am well connected to the State. Nora listened to Mattie's story and was not only engaged in the facts we were presenting to her, she also expressed her sympathy for our loss and commended Peter and I for starting a Foundation. She said NOT everyone would do this. I appreciated her honesty and the time she spent with us.
In fact Senators Feinstein, Hutchison, and Lautenberg are all members of the Senate Cancer Coalition and all advocate for the care and treatment of cancer patients. Today was a good beginning for us in the Senate, and a reminder to me that the issues we are discussing are of importance to those unable to advocate for themselves because they are in the midst of a diagnosis, treatment, survivorship, or like us.... grieving.
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