Tonight's picture was taken in November of 2003. We were visiting Peter's parents in Boston, and Peter's mom gave Mattie a gift. The gift was an animated Elmo, that sang and danced the hokey pokey. Mattie was absolutely fascinated to see this toy in motion, and I captured his face watching Elmo in several shots. This is one of my all time favorite pictures, because it is a memory for me of the sheer joy Mattie felt when seeing this fuzzy red Sesame Street character dancing and moving about. Mattie loved it so much, that he too would rise to his feet and do the hokey pokey right along side Elmo. It was a priceless scene. Elmo can still be found in Mattie's room today, and each time I see this toy, I am transported back to the moment in time seen in this picture.
Quote of the day: Sometimes, when one person is missing, the whole world seems depopulated. ~ Alphonse de Lamartine
Today was another busy day. I started the day at the doctor's office for my annual physical. I am fortunate to have a doctor I can talk to, and who actually listens. She spends a great deal of time with me, and she understands on some level the physical toll Mattie's illness and death have taken on me. In many ways, my doctor reminds me of Kristen, Mattie's oncologist. They are both young, bright, people oriented, and good listeners. I have learned from Mattie's battle that I will not tolerate being treated as inferior or an after thought by any medical doctor, especially a doctor treating me.
After my doctor's visit, I then met up with Ann, Mary (Ann's mom), and Ann's cousins (who are visiting from Boston). Mary loves to window shop and go into the Hallmark store. So we traveled as a pack from one place to the other, and eventually landed up having lunch altogether.
Peter and I had the opportunity this afternoon to have a two hour conference call with two clinical psychologists who are pioneers in the field of psychosocial support for children with cancer and their families. Since this is our ultimate mission of the Mattie Miracle Cancer Foundation, Peter and I felt it was crucial to reach out to subject matter experts to get their input and guidance. We were also fortunate to have Brett Thompson on the call with us. As many of my faithful readers know, Brett is a managing director at Mercury (a high stakes public strategy firm) who has graciously taken us on as clients to help our Foundation develop a legislative agenda. Peter and I truly value Brett's expertise and I personally love his straight forward approach to things, his insights that he brings to the table, his honesty, and his incredible sensitivity to our cancer battle and loss.
After the call was over, Peter and I actually felt very good. We both concluded that after talking to the subject matter experts, we have the right focus for the Foundation. A focus you will be hearing more and more about within the next couple of months.
I ended my day back with Mary. I sat with her this evening, helped her with dinner, and we chatted about her day. It is funny in a way, Mary and I understand each other's sadness. We do not have to actually speak about it (the death of our sons) at times, but we both know it is there and it will always be there.
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