Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Tonight's picture was taken in May of 2006, at Sesame Place in Langhorne, Pennsylvania. Mattie had a full day at the park and as you can see he left with two Elmo balloons. Elmo was his favorite Sesame Street character. Mattie wasn't a big TV watcher, it just did not engage him. If Sesame Street was on TV, he basically ignored it, until he heard Elmo's music begin. Mattie was then transfixed to the TV and was simply fascinated by this cute red creature. At the park, we bought Mattie an Elmo balloon. However, one of the characters roaming the park that day took a liking to Mattie and gave him a second balloon. Needless to say Mattie was beyond thrilled!


Quote of the day: As long as I can I will look at this world for both of us. As long as I can I will laugh with the birds, I will sing with the flowers, I will pray to the stars, for both of us. ~ Sascha

It has been raining in Washington, DC for DAYS!!! It almost seems worse to me than Tropical Storm Irene. I stayed home most of the day today and worked on preparing the blog for my 18 days away from home. It seemed like an intense project on the eve of Mattie's second anniversary. Actually focusing today in general is hard, and trying to talk intelligently tomorrow at Georgetown's School of Business should be interesting. It is a surreal feeling to go back on campus, the same campus which Mattie died on two years ago. Nonetheless, there is something quite poignant about being given the opportunity to talk to students about Mattie and also we are honored that this class has adopted Mattie Miracle as their community learning project.

As I mentioned last night, I was up working on cellowrap butterflies. My goal is to try to hang them on Mattie's oak tree at school. Last year, thanks to my friend, Junko and her mom, a group of us were able to display praying origami cranes on Mattie's tree. These cranes literally survived the ENTIRE school year. Which is remarkable given the bad weather we had, but these cranes were strong and powerful and also symbolic of the cranes Junko made for Mattie throughout his cancer battle. Junko made Mattie a mobile of 1000 cranes, which always hung over his bed in his hospital room. Now they hang in his room at home.

As you can see, I made several butterflies last night. The butterfly has become a symbol to me of Mattie. When I see one flutter passed me, I think of him. So it seemed like the perfect symbol to tie to his tree this year as we remember him and his heroic battle.

In the midst of the day, I received a lovely email from Joan Holden, the head of Mattie's school. Joan always reaches out to us and never forgets. Joan has already committed to having the next Mattie Miracle Walk on her campus in May of 2012. We very much appreciate St. Stephen's and St. Agnes School's generosity and kindness and for being committed to bringing awareness to childhood cancer.

This evening, Peter and I had dinner with our friend and Mattie Miracle board member, Tamra. It seems fitting that we met tonight, since the day before Mattie died in 2009, Tamra visited us in the pediatric intensive care unit. I will always recall Tamra's visit that morning. She walked into our room, gave us hot tea, coffee, and pastries. She took one look at Mattie and knew there was nothing to say. By that point he was drugged out from SO much pain and was having trouble breathing. She said nothing, but just gave us a hug and then left the room. I remember her visit because her reaction seemed so appropriate and sensitive. Mattie's room at that point became our sanctuary, and to enter it and talk seemed to not only be overwhelming but inappropriate.This evening, in honor of Mattie's memory, and most likely HIS amazing love for acorns, Tamra gave us this beautiful Amish handcrafted bird house. She actually met and spoke with the 14 year old Amish fellow who carved it! This acorn is special to me and most likely will be hung from our lemon tree.  

As we approach the second anniversary of Mattie's death, I wanted you to know we appreciate your support and value each message you send us. It is a challenging day, and each person deals with such memories differently. In my case I admit to getting edgy and snappy, and Peter has already experienced this tonight. We experience Mattie's loss individually and as a couple, so in a way the feelings seem magnified.